Mercenary Paradise
by Malevolus
Summary: AU in which Shepard never joins Alliance military, instead she makes a name for herself as a mercenary.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This story is going to be a long one. Bare with me, this is the first time I've posted on this site so I'm still getting used to it. And of course I own no rights, this is just for fun.**

**Year 2170**

Sarah Shepard woke up with a deep sigh of frustration. Another pointless day on the colony of Mindoir. As she got up she reflected on the current circumstances of her life. Her father was a neglectful research scientist who just didn't care about his own kid. Her mother was a boozehound in addition to being a schoolteacher for her grade this year. She wasn't physically abusive when drunk anymore, but she did get verbal… very verbal. As a colony kid on a backwater farm world she had very few options open to her. Neither of her parents' careers was appealing to her. They simply didn't hold any interest for her. Though she did know quite a bit about science and history, she was sure she could find a different way to apply the knowledge. Farming was simply monotonous. The only other really viable option was military service. And while that had its advantages, it had its own inherent disadvantages as well.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she wasn't exactly the prettiest woman in the galaxy, but she's never really cared. Vanity wasn't one of her personality traits. She was Nordic pale with dark blue eyes and bright blond hair. She had an aquiline nose with a small bump on the upper part of the bridge. Also; high cheekbones with gaunt, almost sunken, cheeks and a slight natural frown. All in all a very angular face, and when her face was at rest she always looked to be brooding darkly. Combine that with the fact that she was fairly tall and not very curvy with a slim neck. Not the most stereotypically pretty picture, she knew.

While still studying herself she reached up and touched a nasty scar that ran down the left side of her face. It ran from down her forehead through her light brown eyebrow over her left eye and down her cheek. She lifted her head and noticed that the scar stopped at the bottom of her face. With her head still lifted she began studying her chin and jaw. She had a slight under bite, which helped to pronounce her strong, rounded chin.

Her eyes found the scar again and she searched her memories as to how she got it. The memory always brought a dry grin of satisfaction to her face. It was the first day of high school and the senior class always rounded up groups of freshmen. The males would beat up the freshmen males and the females would beat up the freshmen females. Not much else to do for fun on an underdeveloped planet without any real opportunities for entertainment, or even crime. The only crimes were assault of varying kinds, theft, or vandalism. All the aforementioned tended to go with the charge of public intoxication. Anyway, the senior class had actually already caught everyone, except for her. The bitches of the senior class sort of surrounded her and tried to herd her out of sight of the teachers. The local sports team had cleared off the field for the senior class already. The asshole boys had already gathered in the area, looking for a show. Once they had her where they wanted her she mentally prepared herself for the fight. They started off by throwing insults at her, getting nastier and crueler with every passing insult. Then one of the bolder ones rushed her. The punch was easy to block, and from the block she locked forearms and grabbed the girl's shoulder. She used her other hand to throw three rapid punches at this girl's gut and then a hard one to her face as she let go of the shoulder. The bitch was out like a light before she even landed face first on the ground. The insults stopped suddenly, and the area had gone deafeningly quiet. Even the boys had shut up. No one ever really fought back before, let alone this effectively. The fight began in earnest. She dodged a few wild blows, blocked and deflected the direct ones and simply absorbed the weaker ones. She barely moved her feet more than three steps. In just a minute and a half almost all the bitches were either on the ground, out cold, or limping away while bleeding and bruised. The last one got stupid and desperate. She pulled a knife and tried to use it. Shepard caught the wrist, stepped inside the fool's guard and used her free fist to punch the elbow, breaking the woman's arm. At the outcry of pain Shepard threw the woman to the ground and picked up the knife. She pretended to study it intently while eyeing the girl that drew it on her, savoring the look of fear. With a flick of her wrist she threw the blade so it landed scant inches from the girl's face and said, "Take that piece of shit blade with you."

Of course the scar came after that. She hoped her cold calm intimidating demeanor would give the boys pause. But that assumed that these sadistic teenagers had a decently sized brain among them. No, they all charged her. She won, but caught a few bruises and the last boy standing actually had some skill with his knife and managed to cut her face fairly deeply. Luckily avoiding eye damage, but the cut was still deep. Oh, she made that one pay dearly. It was also the first time she used her biotic implant. She threw him back against the goalpost with her biotics, calmly walked over to where he slumped, reeling from the blow. She glared down at him, scowling deeply and bleeding from the gash. Then, riding a rush of adrenaline, she grabbed the boy's face with her left hand. She lifted him to about eye level one handed and slammed his head back against the goalpost. Then kneed him in the gut, let go of his face and slammed her left elbow into his temple, knocking him down. Before he had even landed she reached down with her right hand and caught him by the throat. She slowly lifted him above her, clutching his throat and even squeezing a little, watching his eyes bulge in abject terror as he thought she was going to kill him. Finally she tossed him face first into the ground and walked off, heading home.

This is the part of the memory that caused her grin to fade. She got home, still bleeding and her father didn't even notice. And her mother was already too drunk to notice. So she tried to treat the cut herself with what she thought was Medi-gel. It was, but it was meant for dextro DNA life forms. What her father was doing with a supply of dextro Medi-gel she didn't find out until much later. It still closed the wound, but it left a nasty scar and the pain was excruciating. It still occasionally causes her pain when her biotic migraines flair up. Still, she had gained a reputation at school. No one wanted to fuck with her.

She stopped studying herself in the mirror and finished her morning routine.

Of course the rest of the day was far from routine…


	2. Chapter 1: Mindoir's Fall

Chapter 1 Mindoir's fall

Shepard walked outside and looked out at the sky, getting an uneasy feeling in her gut. She shook it off, but decided to get her pistol from the shed. She had clipped the pistol to her hip and then on a whim she grabbed the antique single shot bolt action .308 rifle she bought a couple years ago. She grabbed the bullets and strapped the old gun to her back as she placed the ammo in a small duffel bag. She figured if nothing else she could go target shooting later.

Supposedly the Alliance was sending one of their patrols out near here sometime in the week. They were doing a patrol tour. She'd ask the grunts about joining, not entirely trusting the recruitment officers and their sales pitch.

Barely an hour later she knew something was wrong because there was something that sounded like a loud clap of thunder in the air, but the sky was clear. Feeling a sudden blast of foreboding she dashed for a nearby building and climbed onto the roof.

She watched as shuttles came pouring down out of the sky. When she tried to contact someone she noted that her communicator didn't work. "FUCK! That thunderclap was an EMP!" She said in realization

In frustration she threw the useless communicator away and decided to convert this rooftop into a makeshift sniper's nest, "Let's see how this old antique holds up against modern kinetic barriers." She mused as she loaded up the rifle.

She couldn't defend any of the other colonists because they had all gathered on the other side of the settlement to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Mindoir. The shuttles seemed to converge over there as though they had been tipped off, or had other avenues of information. A few landed elsewhere, but one landed near her. They were sent to round up stragglers most likely.

The shuttle door opened and she took aim through the iron sights and pulled the trigger on the unsuspecting Batarian. Apparently the kinetic barriers work about as well against old rifles as they do against modern sniper rifles, because the Batarian's head exploded and showered his friends with gore. She worked fast at reloading and took down the other two Batarians. She felt a brief flash of guilt as she took her first lives, but realized she'd deal with it later. The gunshots had drawn attention.

She heard her thrown communicator crackle back to life and realized the EMP had worn off. So she grabbed it and almost tried to signal someone, but then she realized that that would only serve to give her position away. Instead she set it to monitor com traffic on the frequency that the Batarians had to be using, being the only one with com traffic besides the public ones. She then clipped it back in her ear and began watching carefully for Batarians being sent to her location.

She heard over the com, "Search group Bravo, I need you to check Alpha's status. They aren't reporting in. Be careful, there were a few unusual sounds heard."

"Understood, sir. Heading west now." The reply.

So, the search groups are comprised of three Batarians. That's useful information. She made sure to ready two more bullets for rapid reload. And shifted her aim to the east in search of the encroaching Batarian slavers.

The witless fools stumbled right into her crosshairs and she snarled to herself, "Slavers." Shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot. She primed another shot and the three Batarians were down in less than thirty seconds. She checked her ammo stock and found she still had six more shots, including the one loaded in the barrel. She hadn't realized she was so low on ammo this morning.

The com crackled again, "Team Bravo? Team Bravo?! Dammit! We're dealing with someone who's armed and skilled. Team Echo, Team Theta, check out the LZ for Alpha team. And use extreme caution. Someone's shooting our people."

"Heading there now."

"Double time to team Echo's location!"

Shepard mumbled to herself, "Damn, no directions this time. And I only have enough bullets for those two teams, and then I'll have to get off this rooftop."

Then she overheard the leader of the raid issuing orders to the bulk of his men, "Processing is going faster than anticipated. Outlying settlements are already sixty percent finished. Here at the main settlement we've processed just over half these people and headcount states we're only missing one person. Grab that schoolteacher and start questioning her as to who's missing. The Alliance won't stay in the dark for long."

Shepard's blood ran cold as dread clutched her heart. As much as she didn't like, and in fact resented, her parents she didn't want anything to happen to them. She did love them.

As she checked her surroundings she spotted the group of six Batarians using cover and keeping their heads down. Of course it didn't help all that much since she was elevated. She prepared all of her bullets and lined up a shot and fired. The rest of the Batarians scattered, but she was fast enough to hit a second one. That left four Batarians and four bullets. Shifting her head around she located another one and fired. The last three had found good cover and were biding their time. She grabbed her two other bullets and vaulted down to the ground. She located the first hiding Batarian and shot him before he even realized he was looking down the barrel of a gun. The other two panicked at the sound of the gunshot and leapt from cover firing wildly. She dropped onto one knee while bringing the rifle up and fired off another shot scoring another headshot. Working the bolt action she rapidly loaded the last shot and realized the Batarian was straight to her right and a few feet away. She stood up and extended her right arm out and pulled the trigger, firing one handed.

She took a deep steadying breath. Knowing that there was no need to carry the empty rifle around she stashed it in a safe place and set about searching the corpses for any useful equipment or information.

Her com crackled again, "Echo? Theta? Shit! All our search groups have been killed. Time to raise the stakes on this bitch."

There was a brief pause, then she heard a pistol activate, "Well, Shepard? The choice is yours. Give yourself up or your parents die right here, right now."

Something inside Shepard snapped. She gave up her search, and clicked on the com. She calmly said "Fuck you. You think I'm stupid? You'll just kill them anyway. I will find you and I will end you. If possible, slowly."

She started sprinting for a nearby com hub, hoping that the EMP blast didn't simply fry the electronics. She stopped just out of sight of the doors, expecting guards. She thought to herself, _So, the guards are probably inside the building. Clever, they obviously planned to use the doorway to the building as a funnel point for when the Alliance tried to save the colonists._

She checked the building and saw a window on the second floor in a narrow alley. Climbing the prefab structure she cautiously poked her head up and peered into the window. The room was empty so she slowly opened the window and climbed inside. Quietly she walked down the stairs and quickly spotted the four guards. Bringing her pistol up she squeezed off the four shots necessary, pivoting after each one to line up the shots. Then she bolted for the computer and checked the orbital sensors.

There were only a few ships in orbit and they were clear over the other hemisphere, picking up shuttles loaded with processed colonists. She growled in anger at the fact that she couldn't help them. But with the ships so far away she could contact the patrol fleet. She quickly set up an encryption protocol.

"Alliance fleet, come in Alliance fleet. Mayday."

"This is the SSV Warsaw, flag of the patrol fleet. Is this an emergency?" A somewhat snooty female voice said.

"Yes! The colony Mindoir is under Batarian slaver attack. Requesting assistance." Shepard said, ignoring the tone.

"Miss, this channel is for emergencies. Not prank calls." The voice got snootier.

"Uh, lieutenant? I don't think you should write it off so quickly. Mindoir is relatively close to the border." Another voice said.

"When I want your opinion Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, I'll ask for it!"

"Listen dammit! Divert the patrol fleet to Mindoir, or when you come here when you're scheduled to you'll find an empty planet!" Shepard said, anger rising.

"You will not speak to an officer of the Alliance in that tone!" The bitchy voice said, indignant. Shepard heard the other voice scoff.

"What's going on here?" An authoritative voice sounded off.

Seeking to cut off the prissy officer before she could speak, Shepard chimed in, "Mindoir is under attack by Batarian pirates and slavers. I'm trying to call for assistance, but this lieutenant seems to think I'm pranking an Alliance fleet and that irritates me."

"Can you give us any information as to the size of the force?"

"One medium sized slave ship, a pirate cruiser and three escort frigates. As for ground resistance I can say that they've already processed and picked up at least 80% of the colony. And I can say at the site of the main settlement there are sixteen less Batarians than there was an hour ago."

"How old are you?" The captain said, doubt in his voice.

"Is that really pertinent at the moment? Time is running out, they'll start detecting the signal through the encryption I set up." Shepard responded.

"Answer me." The captain said, doubt strengthening.

"Fine. I'm sixteen. Now will you help?"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with my XO. Please get off this frequency."

"…FUCK YOU!" Shepard said, she had had enough. She shot the computer in anger. She had to stop and think for a few minutes, before jumping straight into the enemy's trap.

She heard the Batarian scout skulking outside so she whirled around and ran outside. She launched her biotics at the Batarian and slammed him into the building across the road.

She swirled the dark energy in her hand that her implants allowed her to summon up. She leaned over and got in the scout's face, snarling. She angled her fist to strike with biotic energy, "How many Batarians are here at this settlement?"

"Why should I answer you? You'll kill me either way."

"There are things far worse than simple death. And I swear to you, your end will be excruciating. You'll be begging for a swift end that I will never grant you." She spoke with such fury and seething in rage that the Batarian flinched at every word.

"I don't know how many you've killed, but we came to this settlement with fifty men. Tarak and Charn are pissed." The Batarian whimpered in fear.

Shepard slammed her glowing fist down and shattered the Batarians face and snapping the man's neck.

_Fifty hostiles. How many have I killed? Four search groups of three, and five others. That leaves 33. I really hope they aren't all in the same place. Maybe I should find a better weapon._

With that thought she checked the bodies of the Batarians and found an assault rifle. She chuckled dryly to herself, "Now that's ironic. A human model Kovalyov X from Rosenkov Materials. He must have spent his life savings on this model."

Quickly she made her way towards the main building of the settlement. She found it barricaded by shuttles. The Batarians were buying time to load up the colonists, and they were nearly done. Realizing she had run out of time she resorted to plan B, reckless action. She ran forward and summoned up her biotics, she tossed one of the shuttles out of her way and proceeded to shoot the assault rifle with one hand and the pistol with the other one.

About a minute in she realized she had cleared the outside of the building of 23 Batarians, but didn't see a single colonist; she stopped and thought for a minute before going inside the building. _Was this a diversion? Did they move everyone somewhere else? How do they expect to leave without shuttles? It's clear the inside of this building is a trap. Assuming the scout didn't lie, I have at most 10 entrenched enemies waiting for the door to open._

She turned around and tried to open one of the shuttles. She found it was empty, completely. Even the equipment was stripped. Suddenly she understood. _Oh, this commander is cold. He's sacrificing his men to clear room on fewer shuttles. He's going to abandon his men and their shuttles' shells, leaving them as a decoy!_

Instead of opening the door she decided to circle the building and was just in time to see the shuttle lifting off. She started firing the assault rifle at the canopy, hoping for a lucky shot. It was futile, and she knew it. The shuttle turned and flew off and away.

"FUCK!" She cried out to the heavens as she dropped to her knees in frustration.

She turned around and spotted a basement entrance to the building that they probably didn't have covered. So she ducked inside and, still in a bit of berserker blood rage, she quickly cleared the building of the eight Batarians inside.

"Fitting. The coward saves himself and his second in command." Shepard mumbled to herself. She made a note of the names the scout let slip.

She moved to the center of the floor and saw her parents' corpses. Heaving a sad sigh she went outside and gathered up some wood to create two burn piles. She made a small one and for the other one she dug a shallow but wide pit. It took the rest of the day to finish it.

She set her parents atop the small burn pile and lit it.

The next day she started gathering the Batarian corpses and threw them in the pit, but she waited to light it.


	3. Chapter 2: Forsaken Alliance

Chapter 2 Forsaken Alliance

Shepard waited for the Alliance to show up. The XO she spoke to last time tried to contact the colony, but she picked up the call at another console, "Well, what did I tell you a week ago? Oh, right you'll find an empty planet. Welcome to Mindoir, population: One."

"You. Let me speak to someone else."

"There is no one else to speak to, unless you can talk to the dead." Shepard scowled. Then a thought struck her, "Switch to visual."

"Fine."

Shepard got some satisfaction from the reaction. She sneered at the officer, "Care to land some troops and survey the damage?"

"Captain!" The woman practically shrieked.

The view switched to show the captain and his face paled visibly at the sight of Shepard's scar. But he recovered from his shock, "Still trying to prank us? Transfer us to whoever's in charge, that's an order."

"You're talking to her. Or haven't you noticed that none of the other settlements are picking up the call? I've been waiting two weeks for you to show up, since you continued to ignore the calls I tried to place." Shepard said, knowing the XO and the nice pilot were listening in.

"…Well… I… uh…" The captain was racking his brain for something to say.

The pilot interrupted, "Fuck this! You can charge me for insubordination and desertion, I'm taking a shuttle down."

"Joker! You are relieved of duty. Sit down!" The captain shouted.

After a couple seconds the XO shouted, "Security, seize Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau!"

"This is why I piped all of her transmissions through the ship, and sent copies to Admiral Hackett. Even the first one. In fact he's on his way and should be here in a day, having much farther to travel. Goodbye Captain Mikhalovich."

Shepard overheard the exchange and activated the console's tracking beacon and stepped outside. In twenty minutes a shuttle, settled down outside near the fire pit. Shepard walked up into the shuttle and said, "So, Joker?"

"Yeah, It's a long story, right now I'd like to show that asshole captain the pile of Batarians in that pit." Joker closed the shuttle and flew over the pit, angling the onboard camera to show the corpses in the pit. Then Shepard leaned out of the drop shuttle's hatch and tossed a lighter out, lighting it. Joker shut the hatch and said, "Well, that was dramatic. Where can we head to?"

Shepard pointed at where she had her sniper's nest, "Over there is good."

Joker set the shuttle down and eased out of the seat.

"You alright, Joker?" Shepard asked.

"Shit, I should be asking you that. But I'm fine, I have Vrolik's syndrome. Otherwise known as brittle bones disease. It has to do with the nickname. In flight school I never smiled, and one of the instructors started to sarcastically call me Joker and it just stuck. Though when I outperformed the instructors and graduated at the top of the class, I'll give you a guess as to who was smiling at graduation." Joker limped out of the shuttle, sensing that she wanted to go out for something. "So what about you?"

"Where do I begin? Well, I should say that the scar has been there for months." Then she proceeded to unload every bit of her pent up frustrations. Ending with how she felt to see her parents strewn dead on the floor. As she finished saying that, she found where she stashed her old rifle.

"You really have been through a lot. Really, are you alright?"

"I will be. But I don't think I'll be joining the Alliance, no offense."

"None taken, Mikhalovich is an ass. What do you think you're going to do?"

"I don't know. I'm sick of the Alliance, though. I think I'm going to go to the Terminus systems."

"I'm not even going to try and argue, but I don't really blame you. Good luck, I hope you find what you want."

"What about you? I don't think Mikhalovich is the type to forgive insubordination."

"Yeah, you caught all that? If Hackett can't block him, then I'll resign and figure something else out. Don't worry about me."

Shepard sighed and told him to wait here. She set out for her shed and dug around. She found her stash of Vodka and her gun cleaning equipment. She made it back to Joker's LZ to find him inside the shuttle digging around the storage compartments. He pulled out a couple bedrolls and an extra pillow.

Shepard cleared her throat, "Joker?"

"Just getting the bedding for myself. And whatever else is in there are just my few personal possessions. True to form, Mikhalovich left. I figured there was probably food here."

"Yes there is. But also, booze." She handed him the bottle and sat down against the bulkhead of the shuttle to start cleaning the old gun. After a few minutes she mused aloud, "You know, you are the first person to not look at me with a look of disgust."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on. I know I'm not pretty. I mean I'm pale, gaunt, I always look like I'm brooding, I'm tall but not quite lanky, and I lack curves. Let's not forget the angry red scar running down my face."

"You certainly aren't ugly."

"That's sweet of you to say. How old are you?" Shepard asked.

"Eighteen." Joker answered quickly looking at his feet.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and Joker said, "Oh, alright. I'm seventeen, I lied about my age when I enlisted. Having a beard helped."

"How long have you been active?"

"A few months. Long enough to make Flight Lieutenant, anyway." Joker answered with a shrug.

Shepard disassembled the rifle and cleaned each piece, and put it back together. Then she tested the bolt once. With a little flair she slapped it back into place and gave off a satisfied grunt before setting it down next to her.

Joker took a drink of the Vodka and handed the bottle to Shepard, "What kind of rifle is that?"

"It's just a bolt action rifle. Designed for only one shot at a time, with .308 caliber bullets. It's quite the antique, but I recently found out that it's as effective against kinetic barriers as modern sniper rifles."

They kept their minds off their uncertain futures by chatting aimlessly while awaiting Hackett's arrival.

_The next day_

Joker maneuvered the shuttle back to where the beacon was going. Shepard first grabbed all she needed to go with the assault rifle, pistol, and antique rifle.

Hackett's drop shuttle landed and he stepped out into the cold early morning air. Joker stood up as straight as he could and saluted. Shepard adopted an air of unconcern as she leaned back against Joker's shuttle, crossed her arms, and watched Hackett's movements intently.

"Joker. What the hell happened? And is this the lady who sent Mikhalovich messages?" Hackett asked when he returned the salute.

Joker told all he knew, that Shepard wasn't going to say. They had agreed to let Joker handle Mikhalovich while she spoke of the attack.

Once the explanations were through Hackett turned around and surveyed the area. He noted the stripped out shuttles and the piles of Batarian guns and equipment as well as the ash filled pit. He extended his hand, "Well, Miss Shepard? Can I offer you passage to the Citadel?"

"Thank you admiral." Shepard nodded, but made no move to shake his hand.

Hackett shrugged, "I suspect you aren't particularly pleased with the Alliance at the moment. Well, I'm sorry to say I can't do anything to Mikhalovich officially. And Joker, he is pressing charges. Because you only acted in the manner in which you thought was right, which I agree with, I can offer an honorable discharge with some severance pay and partial veteran benefits."

Joker sighed, "Alright, I'll take the discharge."

Hackett turned around, "Follow my shuttle, I'll radio ahead and prepare some rooms."

_On the Citadel_

Joker went to pursue a job as pilot in C-Sec for now. So Shepard wandered into the wards. After a brief argument about her weapons she was permitted to carry them, so long as she didn't draw them. Hackett had told her that her father had a will, so she went in search of the executor of the will. A Turian C-Sec officer by the name of Vakarian. She entered the academy and endured the watchful stares of the guards and went to the offices. Having no money, she was in a bit of a hurry to wrap this up. She located the office and knocked, "Uh…Officer Vakarian?"

A Turian wearing a visor over his eye looked up and said politely, "Yes, who are you?"

"My name is Sarah Shepard, I was told my father named you the executor of his will."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You have the wrong Vakarian. My name's Garrus, you must need to speak with my father. Let me take you to him."

Garrus got up and started walking with Shepard, impressed at how strongly she carried herself, considering the reason she was here. "Sorry about your father. If you don't mind my asking, how did he die?"

"He was shot in the head by a Batarian slaver." Then Shepard winced at her own tone, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so terse. It's been a long couple weeks."

Garrus was stunned at her bluntness, but recovered, "What happened?"

"Well, I woke up one day and Batarian slavers were launching an assault on my home of Mindoir. They figured out who I was based on headcounts and what seemed to be inside information and killed my parents in retaliation. I spent about half of that day killing forty eight Batarians and watching helplessly as the colonists were taken anyway. Then I had to wait two weeks before the Alliance deigned to show up." Shepard said a little bitterly.

"You spent two weeks alone on a planet? How old are you?"

"I just turned sixteen about three weeks ago. Not the best of years so far." Shepard said sardonically.

Garrus couldn't help but chuckle at the joke. They came to the correct office and Garrus said, "Dad? Someone here to see you. Business." He turned to Shepard, "I've got some work to do. It was nice to meet you. I only wish it were under better circumstances."

"Me too, Garrus. See ya around." Shepard said.

He left and Officer Vakarian eyed Shepard, wondering why she was here. "Have a seat, miss…?"

"Shepard, Sarah Shepard. I can see you're busy, so I won't waste your time. I was told you are the executor of my father's will?" Shepard went straight to business.

"Oh, Shepard! You must be his daughter. Huh, you know he never mentioned you until he named me executor of this will."

"Let me guess. My mother is the primary recipient, but in the event of her being dead too, I get it instead." Shepard said with a sigh.

"Yes. How did you…?"

"Inference based off of experience with the man." Shepard waved the question away.

"Actually to be honest that's how the will was, up until about four years ago. He contacted me and named you primary recipient. He said that you," he looked at the sheet of paper and read, "are more responsible at age twelve than her mother ever will be."

"So, what happened?" He asked as he flipped through the paper for the assets. "Batarian slavers. I'm the only one that managed to stay out of their grasp on Mindoir." Shepard said simply.

Mr. Vakarian brought up the paper and took one last look. "There are really only some old savings accounts to deal with. And a lockbox of research notes for you to do with as you will once you are of age at eighteen. Come with me, we'll head to the bank to get the funds out for you."

The car ride was silent, and fast.

The bank cooperated pretty quickly. Shepard realized she could buy a small ship for going through the relays, with enough fuel to travel between systems. And she'd have enough left over for some food stores and armor.

"Are you moving to the Citadel?"

"No. I'd have nothing to do, and nowhere to stay. I'm buying a ship with these funds, I'll see from there."

"Very well. I know enough not to argue with a Shepard. Good luck."

"Thanks."

She headed to the wards to find a decent ship to buy. After that she decided to wander a bit, take in the sights. She passed by a small night club and on a whim she ducked inside.

It was a lively place, but nothing really held her interests. She looked down a hall into a backroom and saw a fierce looking Krogan arguing with another one. There was just something about the first one that told her he was tougher, stronger and more powerful. She heard him say, "Let Fist know that he's treading on thin ice with the Broker."

"Get out of here." The Krogan with his back against a door was saying.

"I'm being paid to deliver a message, not kill him… this time." The tougher turned around to leave and the other Krogan whipped out a shotgun.

Acting fast, Shepard raced past the first Krogan, and grabbed the shotgun. She pointed it up at the chin of the Krogan holding it. He was so shocked he couldn't stop his finger from pulling the trigger.

It went off in his face and he collapsed onto the floor. Shepard noted that the Krogan was beginning to regen, so she pulled her pistol and squeezed off three shots in the Krogan's head.

"Who the hell are you?" The first Krogan asked.

"You're welcome." Shepard said sarcastically grinning.

"Ooh. Sarcastic and deadly. I'm liking you more and more human. Now who the hell are you?" The Krogan said.

Shepard holstered her pistol and said, "Name's Sarah Shepard. You?"

"Urdnot Wrex. You look really young to have a red battle scar."

"I am young, only sixteen."

"I'm familiar enough with humans to know you aren't even considered to be an adult, then. And yet you have the air of a hardened killer. Why'd you do it?"

"I'm looking to become a mercenary and I need contacts, both within the field of work, and employers."

"Triple threat: _smart_, sarcastic and deadly. Come with me. I'd like to see how good you are at an actual hunt for a target. I'll get you in touch with someone to give you a decent challenge. Then we'll be even and can start being friendly." Wrex teased.

"Deal. Do you need to know my experience?"

"Some. How many have you killed?"

"So far? Forty eight Batarian slavers… and one Krogan bouncer."

"Over what length of time?"

"Two weeks. Though technically the forty eight Batarians was within three hours. And you saw the bouncer."

Wrex and Shepard walked out of the club, and Shepard kept the shotgun of the dead Krogan.

"Let me stop by my ship."

"So you have a ship. How much room does it have?"

"Enough for myself and four or five others comfortably."

Shepard stored her antique rifle in her room and donned her armor. She stepped off the ship with her assault rifle, shotgun, and pistol strapped to the correct places on her armor.

"Now you look professional. Good. Follow me." Wrex nodded his approval and without another word stepped away with Shepard following.

They met Wrex's contact and Wrex started to ask about a more entry level job for his associate. He talked her up and made up stories around the truthful information she gave him.

Finally the contact said, "Well, there is something. But it isn't exactly entry level."

"Let me hear it." Shepard said.

"Okay. A local kingpin for drug smuggling has welched on too many debts. One of those rare instances where we actually do a favor for C-Sec. The contract holder wants her dead. She's Asari, and is blackmailing several high level politicians. The Shadow Broker is willing to pay out double the bounty for the blackmailing information. She's got a small army of personal bodyguards that she does pay well. And she's also got several fanatical Red Sand addicts protecting her. You'll have to get through all of them to get to her. Several mercs have tried and failed, so she is aware of the price on her head. It pays seven thousand credits. With an additional fourteen thousand for the blackmail info."

"Whoa. That sounds like something you'd give a veteran." Wrex said.

"Actually I was going to see if you wanted it." The contact said.

"Well, Wrex?" Shepard asked simply.

"Tell you what Shepard. We'll split it, professional to professional. Deal?" Wrex asked, holding his hand out in a human gesture for a handshake.

The contact chimed in immediately, "Wrex won't betray you."

"Alright, deal." Shepard said, shaking his hand.

"Good. The problem is she's in the presidium. She muscled the Consort out of the building that she used to be in. The one near the embassies."

Shepard smirked, "Well, I've never seen the Presidium."

"It's too quiet, though it is pretty scenic." Wrex said.

They walked off towards the elevator and Wrex said, "Hey, Shepard?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do all these humans look at you the way they do?"

"I'm not what most humans call 'pretty'. In fact to some I'm downright ugly. Even without the scar on my face."

"That is an impressive scar. What the hell are they so damn picky about?"

"Human females tend to be… curvier. A little shorter, and not so gaunt."

"Does it bother you?"

"Not at the moment. But then I've never had a crush on someone, so it hasn't really been important."

"Fair enough. If you did have a crush on someone and they rejected you because of your looks?"

"Then it would probably bother me. But I doubt I'd lose sleep over it." Shepard answered honestly.

"Well, let's focus for now."

They rode up to the Presidium and avoided attracting too much attention as Shepard followed Wrex past the strange statue of a mass relay. Shepard got an idea of how close quarters the initial fighting would be and pulled out her pistol as Wrex whipped out a shotgun.

"I'll take point, stick close." Wrex said.

"Wait. Is she even home?" Shepard asked.

Wrex stopped short. She could be out on business. He wondered why he didn't consider that.

"And besides, I think some of her guards are in this crowd of loiterers."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's a simple bait and snare trap. She already knows about the bounty, what if she set this place up to draw in mercs and is actually running her business from somewhere else. Or is she here, but as soon as we clear out the first room the disguised guards close off our escape route? Something doesn't add up, Wrex."

"I think you're right, Shepard. What do you propose we do?"

"Let me pose as a buyer, or offer her an opportunity to store her product in the Traverse. I doubt most people have heard of Mindoir being raided and even if they have, well then it's not likely to be raided again anytime soon. I can gather some information and then we can make a plan."

"Alright. I'll wait over in the little bar over there next to the human embassy."

Wrex walked off and Shepard prepared herself to offer bald-faced deceit.

_A half hour later_

Shepard sat down next to Wrex and said, "She's not there. She's in hiding and running her business through an intermediary. If the intermediary died, then she would just tap another one. None of the information is there either."

"Damn it!"

"I have an idea though. One of the druggies was a little talkative. Rumor has it that this Asari has a human lover, and that he knows where she's hiding. I figure he'd be easier to track."

"We'll see where that gets us." Wrex said, happy to simply be doing something.

They found the guy and tracked him around for an hour. Wrex's impatience got the better of him and he captured the human.

Between Wrex and Shepard they found out the Asari was hiding out in a back alley between Chora's Den and the lower markets. They made their way over there and moved slowly so she didn't go to ground at the first sign of trouble.

This time Shepard took point with her assault rifle and Wrex had his shotgun. Shepard walked into view and announced herself through a taunt, "You know your intermediary is an idiot. She can't cover for you on her best day."

"KILL HER, KILL HER! She's here for the bounty!"

Shepard shot all the guards that were further away. Wrex boomed into view and took down the guards nearby. It was over very quickly and the Asari had nowhere to run.

Wrex spoke up, "The honor for this one's yours Shepard. In fact, I barely helped."

Shepard fired the assault rifle, point blank range. "Thanks Wrex. Let's collect." They did a quick search and found the information for the bonus, stashed in the criminal's Omni-tool.

As the deal went Shepard and Wrex split the money even. Though Wrex thought Shepard deserved more than fifty percent. So, he asked for passage to Illium, where his next job was and paid for the trouble.


	4. Chapter 3: Mercenary Paradise

Chapter 3 Mercenary Paradise

Shepard decided not to stay on Illium, so she headed for Omega to look for work. On the way there she set up her cabin and prominently displayed her old rifle on the bulkhead in the main room.

She did buy a security system for her ship on Illium. So she also carefully set that up, as well. She decided that the rest of the money from the assignment with Wrex would best be saved for now.

She considered going to sleep, but her biotic implant was beginning to act up and cause a migraine. And as usual the scar had to start hurting, as though it wouldn't be outdone by a headache. She tried to relax, but it just wasn't working. Eventually she gave up and decided to look at star charts for the Omega Nebula. She noted that she still had a few minutes before she hit the relay and would need to plot her jump, so she flipped over to the extranet and checked the news in the Traverse.

There was a small article on the Mindoir colony. It said, "The Alliance farming colony of Mindoir was raided by Batarian slavers last week. The recently promoted Rear Admiral of the closest patrol fleet had this statement: "I wish I could have been a little faster, I may have been able to prevent this horrible tragedy from occurring. As it stands, we have chased them off and will step up patrols in the region." Admiral Hackett had no comment regarding Admiral Mikhalovich's sudden promotion. Hackett did, however, say that there was a survivor of the raid, but did not release the name. We will update as the story develops. This is The Alliance News Network."

Shepard scowled in irritation at Mikhalovich. She had no doubt that the bastard played politics to angle in his promotion. But she caught Hackett's silent message to her, hoping she wouldn't "rock the boat," so to speak. _Fine. I'll let that shithead have his little promotion. For now, at least._

The ship pinged and Shepard typed out the coordinates to jump to Omega.

Within minutes she was flying straight for the asteroid/space station. She declined the docking offers. Wrex had told her that the best thing to do on Omega was to simply pay the fee, unless Aria herself offers you a private docking bay at a decent price. She apparently is the only one who will honor the agreement.

Wrex had also given her good advice for starting a reputation: getting a job through Aria. He had even coached her through the meeting.

The ship docked and she got out, to immediately be harassed by a Salarian selling her something. Wrex had warned her about this as well. A little intimidation and the Salarian will back off. She shot the fool a glare and bared her teeth. The Salarian turned right around midsentence and walked back to his corner.

Shepard allowed herself a grin as she remembered Wrex's instruction on that. _He had told her to draw her pistol and point it at the Salarian's head. In turn she said to him, "Wouldn't a glare suffice?"_

_ "__Well, let's see this glare." Wrex said, not expecting much._

_Shepard shot him a glare that when taken into effect with the scar and gaunt cheeks, would have scared the piss out of a Thresher Maw._

_Wrex shifted in his seat uncomfortably and awkwardly said, "…Yeah… That'll-that'll do." He then cleared his throat in embarrassment._

Shepard let the grin fade and walked up the steps to the Afterlife Club, ignoring the line. Days before, she had placed a request for a meeting with Aria. The Batarian bouncer stopped her. He flinched at the look Shepard gave him. Shepard said, "Shepard."

The Batarian put the look down to irritation after long travel and being stopped by a bouncer. He looked at his datapad and waved her through, "Aria is expecting you in two minutes or sooner."

She walked up the steps, choosing the side with the Turian guard, still a little iffy around Batarians.

"Have a seat, miss." Aria said nonchalantly, gesturing at the seat to her right. Shepard sat down and Aria continued, "So, what does this pertain to? Actually, first, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen." Shepard had been expecting this.

"Sixteen? By the standards of your own species you should still be in school. Where are you from?"

Shepard reached into her pocket and pulled out a datapad with the Mindoir story. Aria read through it, then flipped through the pictures that were recently added. Eventually she said, "Mindoir, huh? Okay, now what did you want to meet with me about? Did you want me to track down the leader of this raid?"

Shepard leaned back in her seat and said, "Perhaps another time. Right now I wanted to start building a rep as a mercenary. Check the extranet for recent deaths on the Citadel Wards. A drug smuggler, specifically an Asari kingpin and a few of her guards."

Aria used the datapad and quickly found the name she was expecting from the description. And Shepard continued along the lines of Wrex's coaching, "Oh, and a friend of mine told me to give you this recommendation."

Shepard handed Aria a note signed by Wrex. "By the way, my name is Sarah Shepard. I can bill under the name Shepard."

Aria looked over the note and said, "Well, you certainly impressed Wrex. And that's not easy. As it happens, _I've_ got a job for you right now. A large mercenary gang by the name of The Red Shifters has stepped out of line and is muscling in on my turf. Though they are local, so they aren't absolutely massive. The idiots have taken a district of _my_ station! My personal security force could take the district back, but the gang has entrenched themselves and it would take a toll on my men. They aren't prepared to combat a commando."

"What district?" Shepard asked, knowing that the answer could definitely change her battle plans as well as the reward.

"Doru district. You can see why I want this district liberated, without too much damage. But I understand if damage is unavoidable. Your reward will be massive."

"I know enough to tell who I can bargain with, and who I really shouldn't bargain with." Shepard said, preparing to get to the point, "That said, I would like to have access to something a little unusual."

"What?" Aria asked, intrigued.

"I want some old Earth ammunition, .308 caliber."

"I'll add that in as a bonus." Aria agreed, with an amused smile. She added, "But only if you show me the gun you want those bullets for."

"Deal. I'll be back when the district is cleared."

Shepard went over to a nearby shuttle yard, since she already had her armor and guns. Aria had the shuttle waiting with a Turian driver. Having guessed her mild aversion to Batarians.

The shuttle ride was quick and silent. Aria's forces had fortified the area around Doru district. The shuttle landed and Shepard exited quickly, pulling her assault rifle, and moved with purpose towards the checkpoint, her feet resounding heavily on the metal floor. She walked right past the guard saying, "I'm the commando Aria hired."

The guard made no move to stop her. She hadn't received orders from anyone, but she couldn't bring herself to doubt this person.

Shepard stepped into the access corridor and put on a helmet with a breather, just in case of gas attacks. Knowing that if the gang had even one mildly clever person there would be snipers covering the access corridors she stepped into the Doru district proper, using her biotics to create a kinetic barrier. It came in handy immediately as four bullets converged on her location. Midsection shots, playing it safe. None got through her barrier. She saw the direction the bullets came from and laid down a suppressive fire in that direction. She ran for cover and used her omni-tool to launch a sabotage mine in the direction of the furthest sniper. She pulled the one right above her out of his cover with biotics and shot him dead. She rolled from her cover into another nearby piece of cover and moved along that towards a stairwell leading to the level the snipers were on. Sprinting up that she put her assault rifle away and pulled her shotgun. She blasted the one closest to the stairs and ducked below the solid thigh high wall along the ledge. It blocked the sniper shot from the third enemy. She flung him over the ledge and he landed on his neck, breaking it. She got up from cover and put her shotgun away. She marched over to the sabotaged sniper with her pistol. She batted away his pathetic attempt at using his overheated rifle as a blunt instrument and yanked off his helmet. She held the pistol underneath his chin and said, "I'll make it swift if you give me information."

But the human was full of bluster, if a little fear. He responded defiantly, "You think you bought a beachhead? We've already radioed for backup. We still number just over one hundred fifty, and have all of the defensible positions. You won't keep this corridor for long."

"Well, I guess I don't have time to be slow and painful." Shepard smirked under her helmet. She dryly added, "Of course, you gave me the information I wanted anyway." She pulled the trigger, much to the shock of the merc. She did a quick check of the other bodies and found that one was a Batarian, and the other two were Turian. _If this group can convince humans, Turians, and Batarians to work together they might have Krogan and Salarians as well. Maybe even drones. I should be cautious._

She picked up one of the radios and checked the frequency so she could monitor it. Then she pulled out her assault rifle and stormed through the room to the small security office next to the other exit from the room. She shut the shutters and hacked the system locally. She used the cameras to check on her encroaching opposition. The gang was sending four Krogan her way, good. They probably have a limited supply of Krogan. Then she noticed that she had access to more than just cameras. She accessed schematics and found the central security system wasn't too far and that the group hadn't yet hacked it.

Shepard smiled, giving her face a sinister look. She shook it off as she heard the Krogan approaching. She readied her assault rifle and waited for them to walk past. She overheard, "Heh, those snipers didn't even last three minutes against a decent commando. I wonder where he went."

"_She_ is right behind you." Shepard said as she biotically knocked two of the Krogan onto their backs and started blasting the other two. Because the rifle was so powerful and so accurate it took only about five to ten seconds to drop both the Krogan, forcing them to switch to their secondary organs and begin regening. A few more shots and they were actually dead. She put her rifle away. The other two Krogan went into a blood rage and charged Shepard. They slammed her back against the wall. They backed up long enough to try and punch Shepard, but she was too fast. Their fists kept hitting the wall. Shepard teased, "Well, you certainly know how to treat a lady."

She struck back with a punch to one the Krogan's neck. Then she summoned her biotics and punched the other Krogan biotically in the neck, to the result of him flying about ten feet back trying frantically to breathe. As his friend was choking the other one backed off to try and bring his shotgun to play. He never got a chance as Shepard closed in and launched a flurry of blows at the Krogan. Shepard then pulled a dagger from the Krogan's boot that she spotted, tripped the Krogan, and biotically restrained him.

She stabbed the knife underneath his head crest. And snarled over the death knell of the choking Krogan, "Give me information or I will tear this fucking plate right off your head, then kill you."

The Krogan panicked, eyes wide. "NO! Anything but that!"

"Tell me how many people are guarding the next room, and the one heading closer to the central column."

"14 Batarians, 7 Turians, and 3 Salarians in the next room; and the room leading to the security control room has 10 humans and 5 Turians."

Shepard removed the dagger, pulled her shotgun and in an offhanded manner blasted the Krogan in the face without looking as she turned away towards the exit.

She tossed the dagger in the chest of the Krogan that was choking. She went back into the security station. Now that she had a number to go off of she could check the layout of the battlefield. Sparse cover, on all sides. The assault rifle would come in handy, an explosive crate near a cluster of about seven Batarians. She had to act fast before they dispersed and sent more down to her.

She pulled the rifle and bolted through the doorway. After a very short hall she burst into the room, gun blazing. Her first shot blasted the explosive canister, killing seven Batarians. She shot four of the Turians with a long spray before the rest of the enemies in the room realized they were under attack. She rolled to the side as the mercs opened fire on the now empty doorway. She brought the gun up and burst fired at the three other Turians who had recovered enough to attempt to flank her. She threw a singularity at a group of enemies whose mobile firing was bringing them close together. She caught the three Salarians and two more Batarians. After that she warped the singularity and killed all five. That left four Batarians whom she killed in the same way as the three Turians, aimed burst fire.

The room was cleared, so she searched the bodies for any useful equipment. She found that one of the Turians had a belt of grenades, which she appropriated. She heard the merc leader shout orders over the radio frequency, "Someone's cutting a swath through us, close up the gap! Quickly now, we'll stop whoever it is in the next room."

Shepard thought to herself, _No imagination. Even better, whoever is leading the techs isn't communicating to the leader of the troops. I have to wonder what these idiots planned to do after this. What? Were they going to ransom it back to Aria and expect to get away scot free? Were they going to make a play for Omega itself, with this pathetic force? Or were they working at alliances? I expect Aria will want to know if the latter's true._

She looked through the doorway that held a massive and concentrated enemy force and briefly considered tossing a grenade at them. But she decided not to waste them and instead shut the door. Then she made her way towards the security hub. Remembering that there was at least fifteen guards in this room she cautiously poked her head through the doorway. They had prepared a small firing line facing the doorway, just in case. Whoever is the squad commander here is smart. But he or she didn't count on grenades. Shepard primed two and tossed them at the firing line, one on each flank. Then she detonated them. While the line was reeling from the shock of the explosions she leapt into the room to close the distance quickly. She fired her shotgun in the closer quarters, killing the seven enemies left.

She checked the schematics and knew the door to the security hub was directly ahead. She expected to see the leader of the techs and at least five technicians, maybe a couple guards. She was right. Two Krogan guards, who were not expecting shotgun blasts to the face, and six Salarians with pistols. She ducked back out of the doorway as the Salarians fired at the door. Shepard summoned a biotic barrier, pulled her pistol, not wanting to accidently shoot the equipment, and stepped back to the doorway. Firing fast she headshot four Salarians, before one of them tried to overload her suit's electronic kinetic barrier. It shocked her a little, literally, but she recovered and shot another Salarian.

The tech leader was the only Salarian left, "DAMMIT! I was going to use this hub to take over this gang. He didn't even know about this room, so focused on taking the district, he didn't realize he'd have to hold it."

Shepard pulled the pistol to a tighter aim and shot the gun out of the Salarian's hand. She then shot at his foot to get his attention, "Enough of your stupid monologue. What the hell was the reason for taking this district?"

The defeated Salarian sighed, realizing he was going to die no matter what. Out of spite towards his former boss, he decided to answer the questions, "He wanted to take this district and then use the victory as a way to spur at least one or two of the major merc groups to side with us in a bid for Omega. Starting with control of all the utilities would have just given us a huge advantage. But Aria's not so stupid, she had backups in other districts. And then she laid a siege on us, thinking we were just trying to extort some money and influence, and what better way to extort than to have control over fresh water and ventilation? If she knew his real plan she would have launched a full blown assault, and damn the cost. Then again, you've been pretty successful. Can I ask, did Aria tell you about the security hub?"

Shepard felt a little generous, "No, I hacked a security station near one of the district entrances. From there I back-traced camera operation and found this room."

"Impressive. Now what?"

"Well, I shoot you of course. But first, do you have any proof about the plans?"

"A datapad over there somewhere has it all, even my plans." He paused, "Good luck."

Shepard shot him. She grabbed the datapad and checked on his hacking progress. He had made some headway, but his process would have taken hours more. She walked over to the console and set to work with her own process. In ten minutes she had full access. Shepard activated Aria's drones and then watched as the mercenaries were suddenly being shot at from all sides. The drones were programmed to keep equipment damage to a minimum, so Shepard waited until the mercs recovered, but the body count continued to rise. Eventually the mercs started recovering, so Shepard recalled the drones. The sudden surprise had cost the mercenaries seventy five men and women. Her radio crackled to life, "What the FUCK!? Did our own techs betray us?"

Shepard decided to taunt this guy. So she grabbed one of the radios and responded, "Well, they were planning to, but they met an unfortunate end."

"Who the hell are you?"

"The commando who 'cut a swath' through your men."

"You'll never make it through the Asari biotics I've got guarding me! And you've still got twelve of my elites to contend with."

Shepard laughed evilly and pushed a button on the security console, "Watch that number drop as the gas spreads."

The twelve men outside the main room with its own security dropped dead in a matter of seconds. Shepard vented the gas and relocked the security console. She took the datapad with her and walked unopposed to the central room. Shepard stopped and checked around the room in all directions. She then found a security station and checked the camera in that room. The four Asari were bunched together in the center of the room watching each of the entrances. The Turian was yelling furiously in his communicator. Shepard noticed that directly above the Asari was a vent, and the ducts in this room led straight to it.

Shepard carefully climbed through the vent ducts and primed her last grenade. She tossed it straight down in the midst of the Asari and detonated it. Then she dropped into the room with her pistol in hand.

The Turian leader was ready, though. He knocked the pistol form Shepard's hand and tried to get her with a serrated dagger. Instinct took over and she dodged the blow, allowing it to scratch her armor. She continued the dodge movement and swept the Turian's legs. She used her knee to pin the arm with the dagger and grabbed his throat with one hand. Her other hand was prying the blade from his grasp. His other hand was striking weak blows at Shepard, or trying to find a handhold to pull on. With a flare of her biotics she snapped the Turian's neck. She recovered her pistol and sighed tiredly.

She made her way back out of the district and on the way she said over the radio, which she tuned back to Aria's frequency, "Mission accomplished, Aria. The district is yours again. There were no survivors, but nothing was seriously damaged. And I have some interesting information for you."

"I'll be waiting in Afterlife."

"Can I catch a quick nap first? This is the first time in days I haven't had a splitting headache. I'll send you the information now."

"I'll see you in a few hours then."

Shepard sent the info on the datapad to Aria and headed to her ship.

A few hours later Shepard woke up when her message terminal pinged. Aria had found her messaging address and sent her a request for a meeting. Shepard read the message and realized she must have impressed the Pirate Queen. The message stated that Aria was willing to trust Shepard enough to request coming aboard _her_ ship in two hours.

Shepard got up, and walked to the nearby markets with some credits. She knew enough about what this meant to realize that Aria expected an extension of hospitality. So she purchased a very expensive Asari liqueur and a bottle of human potato based Vodka, just in case she didn't want sweet drinks. She also purchased a small metal bucket, and two bags of ice. She got back to her ship and cleaned up a bit, and even brought out her antique rifle. She poured one bag of ice into the bucket to chill the Vodka, and stored the other bag of ice. Then she stopped and realized what she just did. She chuckled to herself, "Lawless Omega. Where a minor with credits can buy booze. Ha!" She proceeded to change into more formal wear.

Aria announced herself outside of the ship. Shepard opened the door and said, "Welcome to my humble ship, still smells new. Well… new ship smell, with a little Krogan smell. I gave Wrex a ride to Illium."

"Ah. That does explain the Krogan smell." Aria said with an amused smirk.

"Care for a drink? I'm afraid I have a rather limited selection, Asari liqueur and potato Vodka, chilled." Shepard said, walking over to the bottles and glassware she purchased on Illium.

Aria spotted a comfortable looking seat and claimed it, finding that it actually was fairly comfortable. "Actually I'll split the Vodka with you. I've never been a fan of that overly sweet Asari stuff."

"That's the problem with not knowing your guest's drink preferences, you buy something that never gets drunk." Shepard joked as she poured some chilled Vodka in a glass with ice for Aria and for herself. She biotically floated Aria's straight into her waiting hand.

"Alright, to business. Thanks for that information, I used it accordingly. I have your payment for services rendered, along with the unique ammunition that you requested. For retaking Doru district in such a spectacular fashion, without damaging any equipment, one hundred thousand credits, and an infinite supply of old fashioned bullets. I had backup systems for the cameras, so I could watch the action. For forwarding very valuable information, I have a proposal for you. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes. Though Wrex's coaching didn't cover this."

"I'll bear that in mind." Aria said wryly. She continued, "I have need of a person of your skill level for several important tasks on Omega, and a couple off of Omega. I'd like to hire you under the… made up title of Queen's Commandant. The position is only for a few months, at most one year. At the end of which you'll have amassed a fortune, and built a fearsome reputation. You'll also get your own docking bay, and living quarters. Those will extend permanently."

Shepard took a drink of her Vodka and thought briefly, then said, "What sort of tasks?"

"A range of them, it will be far from monotonous. There will be some time between the tasks of course." Aria said, picking up on her meaning.

"Then I accept." Shepard said, unsure of how to formally accept.

Aria smiled, "Good, now your first task is to relax for a little while. I'll send over some armor that is not only superior, but will identify your new rank."

"So day to day, what are my responsibilities?"

"You will need to keep track of high profile fugitives, in case a merc comes calling for a bounty. Unless I give you a different task." Aria said.

Shepard made a mental note to quickly master that task, realizing that Aria was basically setting up a network for her to use once the job is done.

After that they pleasantly chatted over the rest of the Vodka and Aria took the Asari liqueur with her when she left.


	5. Chapter 4: The One Law of Omega

Chapter 4 The One Law of Omega

"Don't fuck with Aria." Aria said to the new somewhat high profile arrival.

Shepard was reclining on the seat to the left of Aria, trying very hard not to smirk. This was the second time she's heard this. The first time being during her "inauguration" as the Queen's Commandant. After she was shown off as essentially Aria's new personal bodyguard and go-to problem solver, someone showed up and she had to give her speech.

"Understood… Your Majesty." The human smirked cockily to himself and walked away.

Aria rolled her eyes and said to Shepard in a jovial mood, "Should I drop that part of the speech? It gets irritating every time some idiot thinks they're _so_ clever when they say that."

"True, but if you drop it then the speech won't flow the same way." Shepard shot back, causing Aria to laugh.

Aria calmed herself and checked her schedule. "A merc is asking for an audience about a fugitive. Are you ready for this?"

Shepard looked to her omni-tool and scrolled through a massive list of names and locations, programmed to self-update. "Yeah, I think I'm ready."

Aria smirked, "If you continue reducing my busy work to such efficiency, you'll be left with nothing to do."

"And that's a bad thing, because…?" Shepard smirked back.

"…Good point." Aria conceded. She okayed the request and said, "We should expect him in a few minutes. Don't ask him about his scar."

"I won't ask if he doesn't." Shepard said with a shrug.

"Fair enough." Aria shrugged.

A few minutes later a grizzled, but still fit, middle aged man with a bad scar down his face and a bad eye stepped up and said in a gravelly voice, "Hello Aria. You got my message?"

"Yes Zaeed. Allow me to introduce my Commandant, Shepard. She'll help you track down your fugitive." Aria motioned to Shepard.

Shepard got up and waited for Zaeed to have the obvious reaction to her age. Instead he stepped forward and offered his hand and a pleasant smile. Well, as pleasant as he could with that scar. Shepard decided to go with it and so shook his hand heartily, while smiling in return. He then turned around and motioned for her to follow. Once they were outside the club and away from the loud music he turned and said, "So, 'Commandant' huh? How'd you manage that?"

"Some stupid local mercenary gang of around one hundred fifty occupied Doru district and fortified themselves. They wanted to use that victory to spur one of the major players to their side in a bid for Omega. Aria knew that retaking the district with her personal forces would have been costly and may have damaged the utility equipment. I was looking for an opportunity to start building a reputation, with a recommendation from a Krogan I recently met and impressed. Aria hired me as a commando and I singlehandedly retook the district and killed all the mercs. After that she offered me the position as a way to build a rep after a few months to a year."

"Impressive. What Krogan?"

"Wrex."

"Wrex? He's not easy to impress."

"Yeah, so I'm told."

Zaeed set aside his other questions for now. He's always interested in hearing about the successful up and comers of the old soldier of fortune profession. But right now he needed to see if this extremely young girl could back up the reputation she was well on her way to building. He gave her the name of the fugitive and Shepard opened her omni-tool and scrolled through a huge list. After a few seconds she found the name, selected it, and updated her new armor's radar.

This armor was impressive: it was dark blue, nearly black; had a few white trims and had a blood red Greek Omega symbol emblazoned on the back. The helmet, which she currently wasn't wearing, had been painted to resemble a skull, but her dark blue eyes showed through; giving the "skull" an eerie, almost mystical appearance.

They tracked the idiot down in a matter of minutes and Zaeed shot him, since he was wanted dead, "They always run to Omega."

"So I've noticed." Shepard dryly remarked.

They shared a short laugh. "What do you think Aria's going to have you do?"

Shepard thought for a minute, "I don't know, but I do know I'll find out in a week. I'll bet I can guess the reason behind it."

"What?"

"Someone fucked with Aria."

This time the laugh was much deeper.

They made their way back towards Afterlife so Zaeed could check if Aria had any work for him out of courtesy. On the way Zaeed asked, "How'd you get that scar?"

"If you want an answer, you'll have to tell me about yours." Shepard warned.

"Deal." Zaeed answered with just a little apprehension.

Shepard went through the massive brawl in detail. Then about her parents' reaction, or lack thereof. And finally the dextro medi-gel she used because there wasn't anything else available. She finished with, "…And the pain still flairs up when I get migraines."

"Well, I can top the scar story, but while there are some lingering effects I have no physical pain." He paused and gathered his thoughts. Shepard glanced at him patiently, realizing that the reason he doesn't talk about it was because it was deeply personal.

Zaeed cleared his throat, "Many years ago I started a merc group… The Blue Suns. It's not common knowledge. I led the men and I hired someone to run the books. Vido Santiago was good at that. Eventually he started getting greedy, though. Soon he wanted to start hiring Batarians straight from the Hegemony. Cheap labor, he said. Goddam terrorists, I said. At some point he paid off a group of my men. They held me down for Vido to pull a pistol and shoot me in the head."

"You survived a bullet to the head?" Shepard asked, shocked.

"Yeah, and you survived being forced to genetically poison yourself. You can survive anything if you're stubborn enough. Rage is a hell of an anesthetic." He paused as her wording struck him, "And did you say, bullet? No one says bullet anymore."

"I noticed you got a nice old M7 Lancer." Shepard said, answering his question in a roundabout manner.

"Yep. Jesse's a loyal girl. And a right mean bitch if you get her ire up."

An idea struck Shepard and she contacted Aria on the non-emergency frequency, "Yes, Commandant?"

"Zaeed and I got to talking and I want to show him something on my ship."

"By all means." Aria said.

Shepard led Zaeed to her new docking bay.

Zaeed, for his part was curious what about Jesse had sparked whatever idea she had gotten. They finally got to the ship and Shepard keyed in the unlock code and motioned for Zaeed to step inside. "I've still got some Vodka over there in the freezer. Help yourself." She went into her cabin and came back out a couple minutes later.

Zaeed drew in a breath at the beautifully maintained old fashioned rifle. "That must be hundreds of years old!"

"I haven't named her, but she still shoots. In fact it handles modern kinetic barriers as good as, if not better than modern sniper rifles."

"How do you know that?" Zaeed asked in shock.

"I killed twelve Batarians on Mindoir with this rifle. The only reason I hadn't killed more with it was because I ran out of ammo." Shepard proceeded to tell the story of Mindoir's raid.

"…You spent two weeks on that planet alone? No wonder you got sick of the Alliance."

"Yeah, but that pilot was nice. He's at C-Sec now."

"More's the pity." Zaeed said, obviously having little faith in official law enforcement.

"I'm happy for him. Having Vrolik's and still getting a daring pilots job suits him. Besides, it's better than the Alliance… a little."

"You sound as though you want to get him away from there." Zaeed said.

"Perhaps one day. He is the best pilot I've ever seen."

"I'll have to check this guy out, if he's as good as you say."

After that Zaeed and Shepard chatted amiably for a while. Eventually Shepard returned to Aria's "office."

Aria looked up and smirked, "He asked about the scar, didn't he?"

"Yes." Shepard answered, smiling an enigmatic smile.

Aria took the teasing in stride, she didn't let everyone get away with it, but there were exceptions.

The week passed quickly…

_A week later_

"Shepard. I have something real for you to do."

"I knew it." Shepard said.

"Knew what?"

"That the first big thing you would have me do was coming this week. What is it? Did someone break the one rule of Omega?"

Aria smiled amusedly. She knew she hadn't been obvious, but the girl was surprisingly subtle. That made her perfect for this particular mission. She launched into the explanation, "Yes, someone did break that rule. Some crime syndicate has sprung up and rapidly expanded their reaches throughout the Terminus. They have some surprising resources and the organization they've set up is one ruled by one anonymous ruler from the shadows. Simply put I need you to find out who their leader is and assassinate him or her. I'm sure that everything is controlled by remote, and I need you to salvage their mechanism for control."

"So, you want to co-opt their syndicate's network into your own? Or are you looking to control the syndicate itself?" Shepard asked for clarification.

Aria sighed, "I guess I didn't explain just how big they've gotten. If I just try to take their networks, they'll tear themselves apart through infighting and I'll lose the networks. This will require a lot of scouting and stealthily attacking. I'm sending you with my Vorcha Guard captain, he's a Turian named Gavorn. He'll follow your orders and I'll deal with being forced to see Vorcha around for a few weeks."

"What's he good with?" Shepard asked, wanting to make the most out of whatever resources she would be given. She had seen Gavorn around dealing with the Vorcha, keeping them away from Aria.

"He knows the book of war front to back, metaphorically speaking. But he loves clever and creative use of the field. He actually said he hopes to learn from you. You'll be on Illium, so I think a guide might be in order as well. Your guide will be waiting for you at the docking bay on Illium."

"Alright, when do you want me to head out?"

"Today would be best. I'll tell Gavorn to head to your ship whenever you're ready."

"Now's fine. Like I said, I had been expecting this." Shepard smirked as she started heading through Afterlife.

Aria sat back in her seat after sending the message to Gavorn. She blew out a breath and smiled to herself. She had complete faith in Shepard to handle this situation. And finally she'd have a one up on the Broker's networks of information.


	6. Chapter 5: Illium is Omega

Chapter 5 Illium is Omega with Fancy Shoes

The flight to Illium was fairly quiet. Gavorn didn't seem to be too bothered having to take orders from a human, let alone from one so young. In fact he was fairly friendly.

They docked at Illium and found a Salarian waiting for them. He looked fairly old, even from a distance. Well, for a Salarian. He was also missing one of the… things on top of his head.

Shepard opened up her omni-tool to check a note from Aria about the guide she had arranged. It read, "Fair warning, he talks very fast. He's former STG, so he can handle himself and is willing to follow your orders. Name: Mordin Solus."

Shepard stepped off, knowing Gavorn was still grabbing weapons for himself, and their guide. Shepard shouted inside, "Get the SMG and the heavy pistol. It looks like that's his style."

Gavorn shouted an affirmative and Shepard walked up to the Salarian, "I'm Shepard. You must be Mordin Solus."

"Ah, Shepard. Good to meet you, have heard some interesting things through old STG contacts. Did you really take down four Krogan with fist-fighting?" Mordin replied, shaking her hand.

"Uh… no. It was only two Krogan. The other two were taken down with assault rifle bursts." Shepard said.

"Figured it was exaggeration, but still impressive." Mordin responded, not losing his easy smile.

Mordin accepted the weapons with a thank you and gave them a brief tour of the area.

After some walking Shepard leaned on a mezzanine, staring out at the vast cityscape in the pale dusk. She said, "Alright, we need to get started. Aria's given me a good lead, over at the docks there should be some Red Sand being stored here for smuggling purposes. I know on Illium Red Sand is legal, but it'll still have guards that we can interrogate."

They made their way to the docks, but Shepard stopped them both. "Before we go straight for the Red Sand we need some information. Mordin, where is a security station?"

Mordin blinked, "I had a feeling you'd ask about that. A few corridors in that direction, one guard." He pointed off to his left.

Shepard quietly made her way in the indicated direction. She saw the guard watching a small screen that showed each of the entrances to the room. Thinking quickly she manipulated her biotics to knock a small container over in the opposite direction of her entrance. When the guard turned his head to check what the noise was Shepard raced forward and punched the man in a pressure point on his neck, knocking him unconscious. She motioned for her "squad" to enter.

She began typing on a keyboard. Gavorn walked up, "What are you doing?"

"Using this dock's electric eyes to our advantage. In order to exploit the battlefield, you have to know it." Just as she finished her explanation she finished the hack.

Mordin muttered, "I've never seen anyone hack an unfamiliar system so quickly."

"I studied up on computer coding when I found I had some time." Shepard answered.

They each studied the camera view. Shepard spoke, capturing their attention, "The Krogan is a bigger deal than those Turian guards. It seems he's checking on the shipment and giving orders to those guards. We should move fast so we can capture that Krogan."

Gavorn looked at her like she was crazy. Capture a Krogan? Mordin, though, had more experience with Krogan and he thought he knew what Shepard meant. She meant to interrogate him. Shepard laid out the battle plan she wanted to use, a sort of blitzkrieg.

Shepard backed her hack out and set the guard in his seat, hoping he'd think he fell asleep and hit his neck. She set the footage on loop, then delayed the recording a half hour. Quickly the three of them made their way through the corridors. They burst into the open warehouse area that this new syndicate was using. Shepard rushed past the startled guards and ran straight at the Krogan aiming a biotic push at him. Mordin incinerated two guards that had foolishly clumped together and Gavorn used his assault rifle to take down a few more before they recovered from the shock. In short order all the guards had been taken out and Gavorn and Mordin were surprised to see Shepard biotically forcing the Krogan to his knees. "Gavorn, knife."

He ran forward and handed Shepard his ceremonial fifteen centimeter serrated blade. Shepard jammed the knife underneath the Krogan's head plate. Mordin was watching, fascinated at this interrogation technique. Shepard spoke in a low, commanding and threatening tone at the same time, "Tell me all you know about the syndicate you work for now or I will tear this plate off your head and shove it down your throat."

The Krogan's eyes widened. A reaction of fear and terror rarely seen on Krogan. "Rumor has it the big boss is coming in system in a week! I don't know much else! Please don't take the plate off!"

Shepard weighed his words carefully, and detecting no lie she removed the knife and handed it back to Gavorn. Then she grabbed the Krogan's head and with a flare of biotic energy she snapped the Krogan's neck, killing him.

Shepard motioned for Mordin. He led them out of the warehouse and into a safe house he established for the mission. Once the door was shut Shepard said, "Alright we need to do some more discreet scouting over the next four days. Once we have more info we can plan the big assault."

They both nodded and headed to their respective rooms for the night.

Over the next few days they quietly gathered more information and then they all sat down at a table with a meal ordered in from a restaurant that catered to multiple species. Gavorn said, "I can't believe things are going so quickly."

"Well, I admit I wasn't expecting the big boss to show up in a week. But Aria paid the Shadow Broker good money for the lead that the syndicate's main base of operations was Illium. Though she needn't have, by simple process of elimination where else could they have set up?"

Mordin chuckled, "True. But better to have someone to back up the inference."

Shepard paused, "Something has been weighing on my mind. I want both of your opinions."

They both nodded for her to continue, "What's the possibility that this is a trap? The Broker doesn't pick sides; he could have sold information to this syndicate. We shouldn't just assume this really is our target. But a trap we're prepared for is one we can use to our advantage."

They resolved to use the next three days to learn about a certain recent arrival. And the talk turned smaller. Shepard said, "You know I've learned something about Illium this past week. The only difference to Omega is that the crime here is white collar and everyone has fancy shoes."

The other two people burst out laughing at this observation.

The next few days passed quickly, they found out the guard retinue was fairly small, but was supposed to pack one hell of a punch, with Asari merc commandos and Krogan Warlords all protecting a possible boss. Shepard formulated a plan to quietly hijack the whole group before they even arrived to place whatever bait they were supposed to.

The day arrived. The three of them set up the aspects of the plan Shepard laid out for them the night before. Mordin had to set up a good cryo blast to slow the private shuttle down, and Gavorn set up a sniper rifle loaded with concussive rounds, so they didn't do much of any damage, but intimidated anyway. He was the distraction while Shepard performed the bold part of the plan.

They waited the hour quietly. The shuttle was approaching the cryo trap and Shepard prepared herself on a rooftop. Mordin signaled her and she leapt. Mordin detonated his trap and Shepard's biotics flared into a brilliant light as she manipulated gravity to slam her down to just above and in front of the shuttle, she then slowed herself back to normal gravity and landed on the shuttle with all the force as though she merely leapt five feet. Still using biotics she cemented herself in place. She knelt down and began hacking the side doors' locking mechanisms by remote. Gavorn began firing at the shuttle herding it in the direction necessary. Once the shuttle turned in the correct destination Gavorn collected his things and ran to the meeting point with Mordin.

Shepard hacked the doors open and in response the leader inside allowed two Asari Commandos to confront the intruder on the roof and had the rest of his forces biotically secure the doors. Shepard had anticipated this and waited for the Asari to come into view. Careful not to divide her attention too much she stood and prepared herself. The Asari on the left struck first, risking a leg sweep that if successful would have knocked Shepard off the shuttle and plummeting to her death. Fortunately for Shepard, the Asari reacted as though she had kicked a solid bulkhead. Reacting with lightning fast reflexes, Shepard reached down and grabbed the leg of the Asari and shoved towards the edge. It was enough of a shock to cause the Asari to slip and start sliding off the shuttle, but not enough to actually cause her to fall. She was now positioned several feet behind her compatriot. The other Asari, her back to the direction the shuttle was travelling, had been charging a biotic push. Shepard's eyes widened and she dropped to her stomach. The Asari scrunched her brow in confusion and looked over her shoulder. A scream of terror had only just begun to form as the bridge caught her. _So the leader is willing to sacrifice his, or her, own forces to escape? If this was merely a strike force sent to trap us I doubt they'd throw a valuable asset like an Asari Commando away so cavalierly. I think we've caught their leader, or worse their control mechanism._ Shepard thought.

The shuttle's route was blocked as planned and forced to land. The doors opened onto a battlefield selected and prepared by Shepard. As a firefight erupted between Gavorn and Mordin versus the Krogan Warlords and Asari Commandos still in the shuttle, Shepard and the commando launched into a brutal hand to hand melee. For the first bit of the melee they were evenly matched, every blow launched was denied causing serious damage by being blocked, dodged, or absorbed. Shepard forced the Asari back with a savage block, counterattack. The Asari charged a biotic push. Shepard didn't have time to reach for a gun so she used biotic pull and dragged the Asari with her off the shuttle roof just as the firefight was ending. Shepard was on her feet before the Asari had even landed, now she drew her pistol and fired from the hip, like an old west gunslinger. The Asari never had a chance to rise. Feeling dramatic and smug she gave her pistol a little twirl before replacing it on her hip. Gavorn and Mordin approached Shepard and Gavorn said, "That was impressive. What's the next move, Commandant?"

"Now we see what we really captured." Shepard said as she stepped towards the shuttle's hatch and brought a kinetic barrier up. She took a look inside and drew a breath in, "Damn! This isn't a shuttle, it's a mobile command center! We can use this to track the control hub to its location." Shepard quickly glanced in the cockpit and found that the pilot was executed for failing to evade. After searching around the storage compartments she heard something. Shepard hoped she'd found the leader of the organization, but it's probably only the head of the strike force set to trap Aria's operatives. "Come out. I've heard you and you've nowhere to run."

"Fuck. Alright, I'll come out." A human crawled out of a small storage space and stood up. His face blanched slightly at the sight of Shepard's helmet.

Shepard studied the man's face and realized that this guy isn't the leader of the group, "Did the Shadow Broker sell your group info about our coming attack?"

"If I tell you, will you let me go?" The man asked hopefully.

"No. But I'll make it faster if you do." Shepard responded blandly.

The man's face paled further, "You're cold."

"I can't risk you reporting in." She said. Mordin then cleared his throat. "Yes, Mordin?"

"I'd like to say that this shuttle is probably being monitored right now and that he's already reported that he came under attack." Mordin said as he carefully eyed some of the displays.

"Good point." Shepard turned to the man and looked him over, she noted the presence of a datapad in his back pocket, an earpiece, and she thought it likely that an Omni-tool would also be present. She pulled out her pistol and stuck it under his chin, "I'll make this fast." She led him outside, threw him to his back and shot the ground an inch from his groin. "All information you know, now!"

"Why should I? You'll kill me anyway."

"You keep this up and I'll let you live… after I shoot out your knees, elbows, hands, need I go on?" Shepard threatened.

"…" He stayed obstinately silent.

"I see. Well, the stick has failed… So I'll resort to the bullet." She shot him through the heart, unwilling to risk damaging the earpiece. She knelt down and activated the Omni-tool and checked for traps, finding none she downloaded all the information, grabbed the earpiece, and the datapad.

Shepard started flipping through the information on her Omni-tool and Gavorn asked, "Why didn't you pump him for information?"

"I didn't need to, he had an Omni-tool and a datapad. And we couldn't afford the risk of letting him live. We can also patch in to their operational frequency with his earpiece." She turned off the Omni-tool and asked, "Mordin? How goes the 'maintenance?'"

"I had their monitoring bugs deactivated in seconds. Right now I'm actually performing maintenance so we can fly this thing closer to the safe house for easier analysis of just what we lucked into." Mordin answered, poking his head into a detachable panel when he finished.

"Let me know when we're ready to go. Gavorn, help me clean this mess before whatever passes for the authorities decides to come investigate." Shepard said as she stepped back outside.

Mordin worked quickly and was ready to leave, just as Shepard and Gavorn finished incinerating the last of the bodies. Shepard piloted the shuttle as close as she dared to the safe house and Mordin volunteered to stay behind and study the shuttle.

Gavorn headed inside and called in an order of food and Shepard decided to keep Mordin company for a while, and made some good progress. She narrowed down the location of the headquarters to a shopping mezzanine near a fairly large prime dock.

_The next day_

Shepard, Mordin and Gavorn all went to the shopping mezzanine. After a brief study of the schematics of the area Shepard pinpointed a small, but fairly innocuous, office right next to the path leading to the taxi lot.

Gavorn asked, "How are we going to assault this office? We can't just go in guns blazing with all these onlookers here."

Mordin asked, "What about his control mechanisms? How does he keep that hidden?"

"Mordin, I actually gave that some thought. My theory is that it's embedded in Illium's own network and accessible via the information terminals spread throughout the area. With orders for operatives spread into other, more eclectic locations spread around the area. He might also have a central access terminal in his office, allowing him to post the information required, or hack the network as needed. Whatever criminal operations he has set up are unimportant, we're here for the information and his organization's resources. And as for the assault, simple enough. All we have to do is make sure the leader and his close lieutenants die."

"How though?" Gavorn asked.

"For discretion we need to not use guns, I suggest sticking to biotic and tech powers."

It worked brilliantly; the big boss was of course an Asari. But she was crushed.

Shepard decided to allow Gavorn to return to Omega while she worked with Mordin to set everything up for Aria.

Once everything was set up she took her ship and headed back to Omega while Mordin headed off to his own business.


	7. Chapter 6: Aria's Aria

Chapter 6 Aria's Aria

Aria smiled to herself. Mordin and Shepard had sent her everything she wanted and more. She had full control of this vast network of separately small time information brokers. None of which even knew they were being manipulated. There was also a few smuggling and even counterfeiting operations. Let alone all the arms and munitions that were being stockpiled by them. Shepard also included a reference to Earth history in which she implied Aria might be best served by slowly replacing managers and leaders from top down and then simply assume direct control. The references she included practically provided step by step instructions, even what to do if something didn't go quite right. Whether she'd take the advice or not, this got her interested in Earth history.

Accordingly, Shepard was on her way back and Gavorn was already here. She would need to give Shepard something big to compensate for handling this job absolutely perfectly.

As she was scrolling through her new resources when her "receptionist" pinged that a high profile new arrival was on her way.

With a sigh she closed down her Omni-tool and grabbed a tumbler of good human liquor and poured a glass for herself. She took a sip, leaned back and let out a contented sigh. She knew the "guest" was likely to loiter in the club a bit before heading up to her. She set her glass down in the innocuous corner and stood up to assume the position for incoming guests.

She glanced at the datapad that her guard/receptionist gave her. "Wasea… Oh, Eclipse captain. Head captain of Eclipse on Illium. Slight attitude problem. Hates non-Asari, is willing to break any and all laws. Even deeply held traditional ones… Wouldn't surprise me if she was willing to smuggle an Ardat-Yakshi."

She set the datapad down and waited. This was technically not Wasea's first time on Omega so she could skip the speech. But still, something was giving her an odd feeling.

Wasea stepped past the slower of her two guards. Aria turned around, "What can I-" Aria stopped short as she stared down the barrel of a silenced pistol. "Well, isn't this discreet. Eclipse will pay for this, dearly." She threatened.

Wasea laughed, "Who says Eclipse has anything to do with this?" She began squeezing the trigger, but Aria's reflexes were too good. Aria twisted away from a lethal shot, but it was modified to force her to pass out. Had she not conditioned herself it would have killed her. As she lost consciousness she realized her guards' throats were being cut.

_Hours Later_

(Groan)

"Finally, awake at last. You had me worried, Aria."

"Shepard? Where? How?"

"I got in a little ahead of schedule and when I found your guards' bodies stashed in my hangar I made double time to the club. I found you bleeding out on your couch."

"Okay… I ask again, where?"

"On my ship. In my cabin actually. I got you here without anyone seeing. You're not in any danger; I got the bullet out, siphoned some poison out, cleaned and dressed the two wounds, and prepared food. Actually an Asari dish, ingredients from Illium."

"You can cook? And clean wounds?"

"I can definitely clean wounds, by the way, you so owe me. That poison was really potent. As for cooking, I'll let you be the judge."

"Uh… How did you siphon the poison?"

Shepard scratched the back of her neck in a little embarrassment, "The old fashioned way. It was… terrible tasting."

"Where was I stabbed?"

"Just to the side artery in your neck." Aria absently reached up and gently felt her neck, Shepard continued, "I- you may have a hickey for a while, it was a small incision; quite a lot of bad poison though. I wanted to be sure."

Aria smirked, "And I'm grateful for that. Let me see if cooking is your one weak point."

After one bite Aria laughed, "Nope, cooking is not your weak point. And you perfectly nailed an Asari dish, which is not easy. Go take a break, thanks for your help. I want to handle this one myself."

"Okay. Before I leave, I made certain your Omni-tool wasn't accessed. And I recovered your datapad, also not accessed. Have fun."

"No need to leave I'll be heading out, likely to Illium. I want you to keep everyone in line. Especially the mercs. Can I borrow your ship?" Aria waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

"No problem, in fact I wrote the codes down in your datapad. Feel free to use my rifle as well, the sights are all lined up and she's got a range comparable to a Mantis. Rips through shield barriers, don't know about Biotic Barriers. And when disassembled it's unrecognizable, conceal it in plain sight." Shepard said.

"I'll keep that in mind. You'll need more luck than me. If you need advice, ask Patriarch." Aria smirked.

Shepard grabbed her pistol and shotgun and stepped off the ship. Aria stepped off as well and locked it up. Aria made her way towards the area where Eclipse's "district" was.

She walked into the main office unannounced passed the guards, who were way too intimidated to stop the Queen of Omega. Especially when she had a scowl on her face that could make a Krogan crap his pants. "Jaroth!"

"A-Aria? What can I do for you?" Jaroth's head snapped up in surprise.

"You can tell me if Eclipse sent Wasea to kill me, or if she's working for someone else on the side."

"Wasea? She was here? Eclipse didn't send her. She might have been working for someone else; we don't frown on our captains freelancing on the side for extra cash. Or she might have just wanted you dead."

"What could she possibly gain?"

Jaroth thought for a few minutes, "Wasea wouldn't gain anything. However captain Enyala would become the new head captain of Illium when Wasea dies. Feel free, Wasea is a bitch. She'll not be missed. Enyala will be better for our forces there anyways, better leadership ability."

"What about her freelancing."

Jaroth picked his words carefully, "If the freelancing was for anyone, I would guess it was a favor for the Shadow Broker. If you do a favor for him, her, them, whatever; you get discounts on important information."

Aria nodded and said, "I expect you to obey my proxy while I'm gone. If I get an unfavorable report… well… you'll likely be dead at her hands anyways. But Eclipse will pay in your stead. Understand?" Aria leaned in close with a cold, angry stare.

Jaroth swallowed and nodded nervously, "Yes Aria."

"Good, notify Enyala of her new position in five days' time."

She left and headed back to Shepard's ship. Before long she was out of the system.

_Four Days Later_

"(Sigh) It's been ages since I've been to Illium. Let me see, Wasea's district is… the commercial spaceport. Of course it is. Makes smuggling very easy. Let me see, ahh. Jax, that old Krogan, is still gunrunning. There's my in."

She tapped a few keys in her Omni-tool and held her hand up to her ear piece, "Jax. It's Aria. I need to borrow your "special" landing port."

"Aria. Whose ship will you be landing on, and will this bring investigators to my smuggling port. Let's call a pyjack's ass a pyjack's ass."

"Well, I can at least assume you put me on a private line. It is a matter of revenge. And I doubt the police are going to look too deeply into the death of an Eclipse captain. And the ship I'm on is registered to a… _Sarah_ Shepard. Or Commandant Shepard if she's switched it. A… close friend." Aria hesitated only a second before calling Shepard friend.

"Friend? She must be damn good. Alright, it's clear for you."

Aria smiled, "Thanks Jax. That's one less you owe me."

"Yeah. And about five thousand more to go."

"Hey, you're making progress." Aria hung up and maneuvered the ship into the dock and disembarked with Shepard's special rifle carefully disassembled.

She made her way over to the small police station. And found one of the officers. "You, what's your name."

The young officer looked up and did not recognize her, "Officer Anaya, miss…?"

Aria smiled in amusement, "Don't recognize me? I'm making a courtesy call. Aria T'loak. Don't be surprised if you find Eclipse has lost a captain."

With that Aria slowly and almost seductively sauntered off, smirking happily. The young officer just gaped and watched her go.

When in the elevator she reassembled what the customs agents thought was nothing more than part of some security device that was missing a few pieces. CLIK-CLAK The one shot was loaded and primed. "Such a satisfying sound. No wonder humans didn't change the basic design for a couple centuries."

A minute passed, then another and finally Aria said, "Why do elevators suck on Illium and the Citadel?"

The doors opened and Aria used biotics to make her way through the place quite stealthily. Finally near the end of an absurdly long corridor there was one door that led to Wasea's office. She opened the door, "_Hey!_ Wasea! This isn't about Eclipse anymore. Should have made triple sure, bitch!"

Wasea stood up and rapidly activated her biotic barrier. She laughed upon seeing the gun, "What the hell is that piece of shit? Is that wood on the stock?" She started laughing a deep laugh.

Mid breath Aria squeezed the trigger and the bullet flew straight through the head, shattering the biotic barrier and splattering the crates behind her desk with dark blue blood. Wasea died mid laugh.

Aria worked the bolt, CLIK-CLAK, and the casing flew out. With lightning reflexes Aria caught it and slapped the bolt back in place, "Very satisfying." She smiled broadly.

Aria thought to herself, _Since I'm already out and about, maybe I should pay a quick visit to the Citadel._

She launched out of the system very quickly and plotted a course for the Citadel.


	8. Chapter 7: While the Queen's Away

Chapter 7 While the Queen's Away, the Commandant Will Play

Shepard settled into Aria's seat, letting out a small sigh. "This seat is so comfortable."

"We should get to business Commandant." One of the new Batarian guards said.

"Right. Anyone coming that will force me to do the speech?"

The new Turian bodyguard commander looked at the datapad in his hands, "No, ma'am."

"Don't "ma'am" me. Any meetings at all, or is this going to be a day of admin."

"Looks like an admin day, but the Patriarch wanted to see you."

"Really? Well, I'll go to him, no need to make that old one hearted bastard climb these steps." She paused as she got up, "Send the admin files to my Omni-tool. I'm sure you can handle eliminating the day's trouble makers. Let me know if a bounty hunter comes looking for a high profile target."

"Will do ma- Commandant."

"You can use just "Shepard" if it's easier."

"Very well, Shepard."

Shepard headed down the steps and through to the corridor that leads to the lower level. As she was walking she was flipping through the admin files. She solved the ones that merely needed a few keystrokes and shut down her Omni-tool as she began hearing the Patriarch telling an old story of when he was in charge of the station.

She entered as he was explaining how to deal with someone who killed your close family members. Shepard waited for him to finish and the people he was talking to left with amused and thoughtful expressions on their faces. "You asked to see me, Patriarch?"

"Shepard. Always good to see you. Listen, I've heard rumors that the Blood Pack is planning on making a move while Aria's away. By the way, thanks for dealing with those fools who wanted me dead. Since you handled it as krant, I'm important again. Aria is actually more pleased with this result, than if you had just moved me away. I'm an actual advisor now, not a damn trophy." Patriarch greeted very happily.

Shepard let out a pleased chuckle and said, "Well, on the subject of advice. If I, in the process of staving off this attempt, were to kill Omega's head of the Blood Pack…?"

"The Blood Pack would simply send another leader to fill the void and seek no revenge. It will be his own doing if you successfully slay him in his attack." Patriarch waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "In fact, do kill him. He's what you would call a terrible person. The Krogan most likely to take his place upon his death is a smarter fighter and tougher, but otherwise weak willed and single minded. He'd be better for the Blood Pack and Aria. Better yet, he's now second in command, if you can spare him that would be best."

Shepard nodded her thanks and turned to leave. Patriarch hesitated briefly, and then said, "I'd be willing to deal with certain administrative duties that do not require your immediate attention and presence. That way you can prepare to counter the Blood Pack's first push."

"Thanks. I'll take advantage of that to do some scouting of my own."

Shepard put her hand to her earpiece and activated her Omni-tool's radio, "Be on the lookout for Blood Pack scouts, or freelancers."

"The Blood Pack is the one who's making a move? Alright, we'll be on guard."

"That reminds me, tell Gavorn to keep a watch on Blood Pack Vorcha, and let him know to be prepared to ask for backup if they start to mass while waiting for the assault to begin. Unless I notify otherwise, use battle plan two."

"Understood Shepard. Grizz out."

Shepard shut down her Omni-tool and chose not to put her helmet on in favor of better field of vision, she also neglected to activate the internal lights of her armor designed for when intimidation is more important than stealth. She ducked into an access corridor and with practiced ease made her way towards Blood Pack HQ on Omega.

She arrived behind one of the main buildings and waited for the Vorcha guards to move off on their patrol. Once they did she hacked her way into the building proper. Accessing a camera hub was even easier than when liberating Doru district, due to codes that Aria furnished her with. She had the basic layout of the building in two minutes and worked out where the info she needed was most likely to be. She made her way to the other side of the building leisurely and cautiously, before she rounded the final corner she stopped. "Too easy. They can't have pulled everything for this assault."

With that chilling thought in mind she accessed the camera feed from her Omni-tool, "Let's see…" She thought the rest of the observations, _The camera doesn't cover the walls very well. But that's obvious, I doubt that's all they've got. Could be using the information as a bait to catch me off guard, they'd still have to deal with Grizz and Gavorn, but they think they'll have a better shot with me eliminated beforehand. Well, classic war advice, a trap you know about can be used to your advantage._

With those thoughts running through her head she checked the camera for the armory, _They haven't even mobilized yet. This is a trap! Is that…? It is! Now that's useful._ She made her way to the armory and eliminated the token green guards standing in front of it. She opened the doorway to find a Krogan preparing the weapons for immediate distribution in preparation for an assault. "Well, hello there. Not preparing an attack without notifying Aria's proxy, are you?" When she said "Aria's proxy" she pointed at herself over exaggeratedly with a dry, bemused smile on her face.

The Krogan panicked, and instead of merely pointing the gun in his hands at Shepard, he dropped it and reached for his own weapon, a shotgun. Shepard used her biotics to freeze him before his hand could close around the gun. "Please, you're not that fast. And if you're now kicking yourself for not simply pointing the gun already in your hands and firing, well I'm even faster with a barrier."

The Krogan still had control of his vocal chords, if not his mouth. So he growled in anger. "Now I can't do too much damage to the Blood Pack for this grievous insult without upsetting the delicate balance between you, Eclipse, and Blue Suns."

Shepard pulled out a grenade and toyed with it absently, "With that in mind I thought about maybe blowing this armory. But I wasn't sure if this was a wise move in regards to the delicate balance…"

Shepard put the grenade away for now, and pulled her shotgun out and pointed it under the Krogan's chin. "Because I doubt your commander has thought about what's after the battle _if _he won. The other two merc groups are likely to make a move on you, in your weakened state and rob you of the spoils of victory. Let alone how much more weakened you'll be when you lose."

She rapidly moved the aim of her shotgun and fired one handed at the camera without moving her gaze or face away from the Krogan. "Tell you what, _Garm_. Keep whatever is loyal to you back, and I'll only kill your idiot boss's force this time. Tell the Blood Pack the truth: that he launched an ill planned attack to try and take Aria out." She put her shotgun away and pulled a knife out, she waved it in front of Garm's face, "If you don't agree, I'll pull the plate right off your head and forever use it as a dustpan." She positioned the knife, but didn't jab it in place yet, "Do we have a deal? Blink twice and grunt once for yes."

She got confirmation and backed off with the knife and let him off the biotic control, but did not relax her guard. When he made no move to attack Shepard smirked and extended her forearm, "A man of your word, good."

Garm clasped her forearm and pumped it once. He silently picked up the gun he was prepping and finished prepping it. Then he transferred all information she'd need on the attack to effectively kill the foolish leader and his men, while sparing Garm's to keep Blood Pack strong enough to stave off the opportunistic rival groups. "He'll be suspicious that the trap was never sprung, but the armory's camera is shot to shit. Let alone the dead Vorcha outside that door." He said.

"I intend to activate the trap, but avoid it. As though I figured it out anyways, but need the information that was set as bait. I'll incinerate the Vorcha bodies, and you just claim one of the weapons went off as you were prepping it. The recording is easily doctored." Shepard said as she proceeded to doctor it.

Garm nodded, "Alright. I'll make preparations with my men, then. They'll be in blue armor." And he left.

Shepard finished doctoring the footage, and incinerated the Vorcha bodies before heading back to the trap. She eased the door open cautiously, as though she still only suspected a trap. She had her pistol out and she quickly shot three Vorcha standing out of the camera's view. And whirled around just in time to see the Krogan warriors rounding the corner, ready for a fight. But they made way for the Vorcha pyros that were meant to force Shepard into the room and be burnt to a crisp.

But she had anticipated this, "This it?" She incinerated one of the Vorcha that was standing too close to two Krogan and another pyro. Both the pyros exploded and the Krogan were knocked off their feet. For the only other Vorcha Shepard casually raised her pistol and headshot him.

Shepard glanced back at the computer terminal in the room and said, "Not worth it." She pulled her shotgun and shot the Krogan still standing and broke into a run past him as he staggered back trying to switch to secondary organs.

She didn't stop running until she was halfway back to Afterlife. She contacted Grizz, "Did you get the info I sent you?"

"Yes, we adjusted plan two accordingly."

"Good thing I made the plans flexible."

"You're telling me. We've already caught four Vorcha scouts. I suspect they had a fifth that got away. Update, Commandant?"

"They know I slipped their net and will probably launch the assault fast. I'll be there soon, already halfway back. Be prepared."

"Understood, Grizz out."

Shepard shut down the communication and continued on her way. As per battle plan 2, the access corridor that Shepard entered through was locked down to prevent the enemy from flanking them if they found out about the small escape hatches and such. She continued further past two more exits, and came out where her forces should have been if the attack had yet to come.

She almost jumped out in the middle of advancing pyros in red armor. She stopped herself and waited until the pyros had moved out of maximum range of their flamethrowers.

She tossed a grenade outside of the access corridor so that it would look like a detonator mine. A small group of Vorcha regulars passed without her activating the explosion. Finally a group of Krogan in red armor walked into view and she activated the grenade and detonated. All four Krogan died, if not from the explosion, then from fragments.

Not even watching the explosion, Shepard sprinted back two exits and quickly jumped out. She then began running towards her own forces holding the appropriate line. She pulled her pistol out as she approached the line. "Gavorn! Grizz! Report."

Grizz was shouting over the gunfire, "The pyros have been eliminated; we heard the explosion of your grenade on the first wave of Krogan. It seems the Vorcha were told to use suppressive fire, in preparation for the Krogan to bulrush our defensive line. Probably with shotguns."

Shepard smiled sardonically and responded, "Well, we'd better not let that happen."

She stood straight up and aimed and fired six shots at the Vorcha keeping up suppressive fire. All six died from headshots. Shepard ducked back down in less than ten seconds. "I doubt the commander is going to have the patience to stay out of the fight after the next wave of Krogan goes down. Remember, don't fatally shoot blue armor. Or we'll have full civil war on our hands when Blue Suns or Eclipse succeeds in taking down a far too weakened Blood Pack."

"Understood Commandant." Gavorn nodded. Grizz was busy eliminating the last of the Vorcha.

While Grizz was finishing up, Shepard's Omni-tool beeped a message from Garm. It read, "Not enough to hold against possible attacks, too many hold to his ability to brute force fight. Spare second wave of Krogan if possible." Shepard checked her own program that kept track of the merc groups and agreed with this assessment.

The attack abated and Shepard could vaguely hear the Krogan commander shouting in frustration. Finally the attack was launched. But Shepard had a trick up her sleeve. She waited for the Krogan to accidently line up and used her biotics to launch the Krogan on the far side and launched him into the one next to him, and continued down the line of the five Krogan Battlemasters. She pushed all five over the walkway and held them over the edge, a fatal fall to be sure.

"Now I bet you wish you could have taken Garm's advice about this attack, don't you?" Shepard let them drop a couple inches, "The Blood Pack is going to be wiped out on Omega, but that's only if I let you drop."

Garm and his forces were the next wave of the assault and he stepped over to Shepard with his weapons holstered. "Krogan! Our _illustrious_ leader is leading us to death, dishonorable death. Ask yourselves, what would have happened, had we won against the Commandant. Which clearly we're not going to. We'd have been picked off while we were still weakened, we wouldn't keep the spoils of our victory. My view is the same as hers, it is the long view. We must not follow such short sighted plans as we have been."

The Krogan all realized the truth of Garm's statement and agreed, so Shepard moved them back and set them down. In one swift movement she took Garm's assault rifle and fired it over his shoulder, killing the Blood Pack commander.

She pushed the assault rifle back into Garm's chest hard enough to make him stumble back a couple steps and said, "All yours, commander."

With that she pulled Grizz and Gavorn back to Afterlife as Garm gathered what was left and headed back to Blood Pack HQ.


	9. Chapter 8: Alleviating Boredom

Chapter 8 Alleviating Boredom

"So the Blood Pack failed and things remain stable with Garm in command? Good. Garm is… simpler to control, although he's also good for the Blood Pack. Good call, Shepard. I'll be back in a week at the latest. Thanks again for the ship and gun loan, it… came in handy. Aria out."

She was in the process of maneuvering the ship towards the Citadel. Aria smiled, _This sight always amazes and chills me. Something about it sends a shiver of… apprehension running down my spine. I don't know what it is…_

As she got closer she glanced at the major docking ports. The one belonging to the Asari drew her eyes first; it housed a few ships of varying sizes, as well as a nearly complete dreadnought that was still in dry-dock. "The Destiny Ascension" it was to be called. Aria rolled her eyes, _What a melodramatic name._

Next she passed by the port belonging to the Salarian military, if it could be called that. There were mostly small espionage vessels, but there were still a respectable number of frigates, a couple cruisers, and plenty of carriers. If there were that many vessels, than there must be some sort of major meeting underway.

Next came the Turian docks. Of course these were bustling with ships of all size and classification, including their dreadnoughts. And of course it was bustling back and forth with personal shuttles with fighter and interceptor escorts for the important ones. They had to look busy for whatever ranking members of the Meritocracy were in attendance.

Finally, not to be outdone by the Turians; even if by law they couldn't match the Turians dreadnought to dreadnought, came the Human Systems Alliance. They had a more relaxed air about their dock, though it was no less crowded. They only brought one dreadnought to this meeting, feeling that since they were still only a member species they didn't want to appear aggressive. But, they still had the second largest military force in all of Council Space. Still, the fact they didn't feel the need to appear artificially busy made them a more impressive force than the Turians. Whoever's in charge must be a smart man. It makes them look like in a crisis they'd keep a cooler, calmer head.

Aria kept piloting and waited for Citadel Traffic Control to give her the OK to dock. Finally a human male contacted her ship. "Sorry for the wait. As you've probably noticed, we're a little busy."

Aria recognized the voice because using Shepard's information she looked up the information she had available on Jeff "Joker" Moreau. She responded, "Yeah… I'll bet the Turians continue to ask permission for every little shuttle. At least your own species is relaxed and calm."

"Ha! Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from Admiral Hackett."

"Anyways, can I dock?" Aria thought to herself, _Hackett, eh? Something really important must be happening._

"Uh… I'd like to give you permission, but we have orders to screen all docking requests really heavily."

"Tougher security for whatever important diplomatic meeting is going on. Tell you what; I'll make it easy on you. Put me through to Councilor Tevos. Name drop Aria T'loak."

"Aria? Listen, I have a few… more personal, to me at least, questions. Hold on while I contact the Asari Councilor's office."

Aria smiled, _He must want to ask about Shepard. Cute._

"This had better actually be Aria, because according to my sensor board the ship I'm contacting is registered to a… Sarah Shepard." Tevos irritably came on the line.

"Tevos… I've warned you about using a tone with me. But considering the circumstance, I'll let it go. This ship _is_ Shepard's. She works for me, at least for the rest of the year. She lent me the ship."

"Permission to dock granted. The traffic controller will direct you to the correct port. Is there anything else…?" Tevos said with a hint of worry.

While she was talking Aria accessed what this meeting was about, "No. You can return to your little interstellar trade negotiations."

Tevos cut the communication immediately and Aria chuckled to herself, it's nice to have the Councilor in your pocket. She continued skimming through the private information on the various negotiations taking place. It's even nicer to have easy access to information that isn't public.

It seems that the humans are angling for more involvement in the galactic economy, something the Volus are somewhat happy about. Turians want to keep them out of it, due to the rivalry between them. Though there are rumors that Admiral Hackett has something up his sleeve to alleviate the tension. The Salarians only attend out of courtesy as usual; they negotiate smaller trade agreements separately. Asari have little need for the trade, but are interested in some products and resources. The only other species in attendance are Hanar, Drell, and Elcor. Those three species are of course interested in trade agreements from all of the major species.

Aria made a note to check on the progress of all these negotiations while she was here and followed instructions to dock right over C-Sec Academy. A port usually reserved for Spectres. Of course, there were a few Spectre vessels in dock. Aria activated the security protocols and then maxed them out to irritate the Spectres if they decided to try and snoop in the ship. Maxed out settings on the security make it highly resistant to Omni-gel. Let alone making a standard hack nearly impossible. To be safe she grabbed Shepard's irreplaceable rifle and ammo supply. She also grabbed the Kovalyov X, since it was expensive but easy to transport.

She stepped off and ignored the gaze of Tela Vasir. It was a well-kept secret, but known at least to Aria, that Tela was in the pocket of the Shadow Broker. She also swept past the far more discreet Jondum Bao, though Aria knew the Salarian was watching, but for his own reasons.

She almost stopped in her tracks when she spotted Saren Arterius's ship. Aria had heard Wrex describe the one time he ever met Saren. The story still chilled her. Every merc hired that stayed with Saren was found dead a week after Wrex left. Fortunately she didn't break stride. Also fortunately, Saren was not with his ship, trusting his fellow Spectres to watch it.

She continued to the elevator and graced the two Spectres with a mischievous, knowing smile. The elevator door closed and Aria dropped the smile and steeled herself for an irritating and long ride down. She was very tempted to shoot the elevator speakers to stop the music, but about halfway down a news piece interrupted the terrible elevator music. "Alliance Admiral Hackett has released a press announcement asking for cooperative scientific research with, unsurprisingly, the Council Species; and surprisingly all other member species were included in the request by name. There has been no known response yet."

Aria raised her brow and immediately opened her Omni-tool to check for real responses to Hackett's clever ploy to feed the media only the obviously interesting half of the story. Aria drew in a breath, the Turians actually agreed to co-build a starship cruiser with the Alliance. And the Alliance would head it. _How did Hackett manage to convince the Turians to cede control of the project? Impressive._

She shut the Omni-tool down with a mental note to keep a very close watch on that particular project. She waited for the elevator to open and was immediately halted by a C-Sec officer. "Ma'am; as you are not a Spectre, you are not allowed to carry weapons."

Aria rolled her eyes, "Now we both know that that is not true." She held her hand up to forestall the Turian officer from speaking, "But I don't have the patience at the moment to argue that point. Besides, I could ask you to contact the Councilor where she would order you to give in to my wishes. As I said, it's not particularly important, just march me to your requisitions office and give me a receipt for them. I'll claim them when I'm ready to leave."

The officer nodded and motioned for her to follow as he brought her down to the requisitions office and issued her a receipt. Immediately after she pocketed the receipt, she adjusted her leather jacket and spoke with cold efficiency, "And if I find that anything has happened to that weapon… I will make certain everyone in this building is unable to work ever again. Ever. Understand?"

When the escorting officer and the requisition officer both very nervously nodded; Aria turned swiftly on her heel and briskly, yet unhurriedly, walked away.

She made her way to the small traffic control office located at the academy. After asking for Joker by his real name and his nickname, she was told he wasn't at this office. So she asked that a message be passed to him. The message telling him to meet her in the small café right next to the embassies when he got off work.

She made her way down to the wards before heading to the embassy. She stopped outside Chora's Den. As she was about to enter she was startled to hear the voice of Saren inside. Thinking fast she bolted into the side alley and listened in. Saren and Fist exited the gentlemen's club. They shook hands, and Saren departed with a smile on his face. Fist went back inside. Aria's brows raised, _Fist has betrayed the Shadow Broker for Saren Arterius? That'll bite him in the ass one day._

Aria chose instead to go to the markets and decided to purchase a few small luxury items as well as a gag gift for Shepard. She purchased a subscription to Fornax for her. She then made her way back to the Presidium, but first stopped at the Consort's chambers. Aria smiled amusedly at the young handmaiden automatically explaining the long wait for the Consort's services. "I'm not here for that."

The young Asari scrunched her brow in confusion, "What?"

"I'm here to collect rent. Your boss rents this building from me. Aria T'loak, at your service."

Sha'ira overheard, "Oh, Aria! Your rent is forthcoming, uh… A couple months ago my business was interrupted."

Aria waved her hand dismissively, "Yes, I heard. I'm not charging for those three weeks."

"How did you hear?"

"I met the mercenary that killed the drug lord."

Sha'ira nodded and said, "Yes, whoever that was did good work. He or she saw right through the fake and didn't even bother killing her. Anyway, your payment since I last saw you."

Aria collected and, using her Omni-tool, sent back the cost of three weeks. Then she left and went to the café to wait.

She leaned back in her seat and sipped at her beverage. Eventually she noticed a young human male limp in with an awkward gait. He had a lightly trimmed beard, likely necessary for his job. He looked like the beard used to be longer, though not much. He also had a cap on with the Citadel Control's logo on it. Aria glanced over the veranda and noted that it was late in the day. She looked back at the Human and found him scanning the room nervously.

Belatedly she realized he was searching for her and that he didn't know what she looked like. So she waved her hand to get his attention and then shouted to the bartender, "One Earth beer. Actually… two."

Joker limped over and adopted an easy smile, "Never been treated to a drink by such a lovely crime lord."

Aria recognized the easy humor in his tone and smirked, "Play your cards right and that's not all you'll be treated to." She winked. She tried extremely hard to hold her laughter when he immediately blushed, averted his eyes and scratched the back of his neck.

"I… uh…" He stammered.

Aria smirked in amusement and said, "Relax, I'm teasing. Though you are quite cute."

"Well, thanks. Uh, what I wanted to ask you about was… have you had any contact with a Sarah Shepard? She told me she was going into the Terminus."

Aria smiled, "Yes. I have her working for me at the moment. I'll let her know you asked about her."

"Thanks." He leaned back gently and took a swig of his beer. He seemed pleased that Shepard had found something.

Aria sampled hers and found it satisfying. She glanced over at him and said after a brief but easy silence, "So tell me, are you… bored?"

His eyes found hers as he set his beer down, "What exactly do you mean?"

Aria adopted a sardonic grin with a raised eyebrow, "Come now. From daring and dashing Alliance cruiser helmsman, to dull and listless traffic controller. Overworked, underpaid and blacklisted from the job you really want."

"How did you know I was blacklisted? I mean you probably heard about my previous "career" from Shepard."

"I did a little checking when you answered my docking request." Aria lied, she had checked days ago.

"I see. Well, I wanted to try and get a piloting job at C-Sec. They wouldn't take me because of Vrolik's syndrome. Despite my high marks at the Alliance academy they refused me. When they refused to even let me prove myself it was because they had contacted the Alliance and they unfortunately went to Mikhalovich, who had me blacklisted in Alliance space anyways. His primary skill is politics, which translates easily into grudges. With C-Sec like this, Mikhalovich was able to extend his blacklist to all Council Space. I was just able to get a job to sustain myself at traffic control, Mikhalovich apparently caught some flak from Hackett who caught wind of his blacklisting and he apparently ordered him to allow me a job somewhere. Without this job I'd be homeless and barely sustaining on Alliance disability."

"Well, I find I'm in need of a good pilot. And I'd like to give you a shot."

Joker leaned in and furrowed his brow, "Did Shepard put you up to this?"

Aria let out an amused sigh, "Shepard isn't even aware that I'm here. She thinks I'm still on Illium. I really do need a pilot," She dropped her voice so Joker couldn't hear, "though an associate of mine also needs a pilot, but they don't realize they need one yet."

Joker smiled, "You sure you want me? You've only got hearsay and my own bragging to go by."

Aria leaned in, "True, but I'll be honest. Shepard's recommendation means a great deal to me. And besides, I was going to test your abilities before hiring you. I just wanted to see if you were interested. So answer my question: Are. You. Bored?"

Joker answered immediately, "Yes! A thousand times yes! No, A million times yes! This is so immensely boring that I could, and actually have, done this job in my sleep. Please, I will impress you."

Aria smirked, "So, you'd be willing to work for a crime lord?"

"Oh, that. I have a tendency to open my mouth and say stupid things every so often. I never really mean them. I would actually be very pleased and happy to work for you."

"Again, pulling your leg only. And I won't break it, I can be careful." Aria joked.

"Finally a boss that can joke!" Joker said with a laugh.

"Such a rarity, I know." Aria nodded. She continued, "The best way I can gage your skill as a pilot is for you to steal a ship and fly it away. Not just any ship…"

Joker had no moral qualms against this, "What? Military? You don't want me to try and steal the Destiny Ascension, do you? Because I'm not even sure the drive core is installed yet."

Aria was about to continue when she stopped and laughed, "Well, nice to know you're only thought is not that it's heavily defended or that there are four separate fleets here, let alone how many work crews and soldiers are actually on that thing now; your only thought is that it doesn't have an engine."

"Well, I'm eager to prove."

"That's good. Now, I don't want you to steal the Destiny Ascension. That would merely be an irresistible target once taken. I have something else in mind." Aria smiled mischievously, "A Spectre vessel, the one belonging to Saren Arterius."

Joker whispered, "Saren's ship?! Now that'll be a good test."

Aria allowed a devious smile to slowly spread across her face as she laid out her plan, and the reason for the target. Nothing about this plot was arbitrary.

Two hours later Aria collected Shepard's weapons and stepped into the elevator with Joker. Aria stepped off first while Joker hanged back, unobserved. Saren was still not with his ship and Jondum Bao was checking on the security of the big meeting, on the lookout for signs of thieves.

Aria smiled, she'd only have to distract Tela Vasir. As she began taunting Vasir with the knowledge she has about her dealings with the Shadow Broker, Joker snuck as best he could to the ships. First he disabled Jondum Bao's vessel, then very carefully disabled Tela Vasir's ship.

Then he made his way carefully over to Saren's ship. Using a technique Aria showed him he gained access to it and proceeded to start the process for cold firing the engine. He did not begin to start the engines yet, though. He was carefully watching out of the viewport for Aria's signal.

That was when the elevator door opened again and Saren stepped through the door. Joker's eyes widened as he enacted the contingency plan he discussed with Aria. He started the engine and used one of the codes he had for rapidly departing from docks without contacting Control. He pulled away and heard gunfire hitting the hull, as he was sure at least one of them was trying to contact C-Sec or one of the nearby fleets for assistance. Joker activated one of Saren's little toys, he fired a com scrambler. With a little smirk he turned the ship around and while the engines were facing the Spectres he gunned the engines, blasting them with blowback and knocking them off their feet.

Before anyone else could react he hit the relay and proceeded through.

_Aria and Saren_

"MY SHIP! My ship was STOLEN!" Saren shouted.

Tela Vasir winced at every word. She was standing on somewhat shaky legs, but was unhurt.

Aria purposely took the brunt of the damage for acting purposes. She actually preferred her contingency plan. She had carefully stowed Shepard's rifle in the ship in a hidden compartment. She was sitting down, face covered in grime and she had been on her earpiece trying to contact someone. So she had removed it and was trying to work the ringing out. She winced and sucked in air through her teeth. Her bruises, received when the backwash knocked her off her feet and she landed badly, were aggravated by Saren's tirade making the grates shake. She collapsed the Kovalyov X assault rifle and placed it on her back as Saren approached her, gently.

Saren knelt down next to her and said, "Sorry Aria. I didn't mean to aggravate your wounds. How's your ear?"

"Better, thanks." Aria turned her gaze towards the elevator to see Jondum Bao step through. She turned back to Saren, "You should see what the resident expert on thieves has to say." She motioned her head towards the Salarian.

Saren nodded in appreciation and got up to walk over to Jondum. Jondum said, "Well, it seems I looked for a thief in the wrong area."

"Clearly. Now what did you find out." Saren said wryly.

"Not a professional thief. Your ship was stolen by an incredibly bored former Alliance pilot who was forced out of the service. Since being forced out he had to get a job to sustain himself, and due to having a rare brittle bone genetic disorder and also pissing off a politically potent man, was unable to acquire another job piloting. So he took a job in Traffic Control, and was apparently exceedingly bored."

Aria joked, "Hell of a way to tender a resignation! Steal a Spectre's ship…" She shook her head in believable incredulity.

Saren even laughed at the joke. He sighed and turned away. He mumbled, but Aria overheard him, "Good thing I didn't have any sensitive information. Though a little is now stolen from me." He continued in a normal tone, "Considering this guy was merely quitting in a spectacular fashion, I don't think I'll press charges. There will be no warrant."

Aria did not comment on that. Jondum Bao said, "What will you do now, Saren?"

"I'm going to have to call in an old favor, but I need to get to Thessia." Saren said.

Aria eased herself up, "Since this is somewhat my fault I'll give you a ride to Thessia."

"I appreciate the offer, but this is not _your_ fault." Saren glared pointedly at Tela Vasir. She had the decency to appear at least embarrassed.

"It's no trouble; Thessia isn't exactly out of my way." Aria said.

"I- Thanks. Let me at least reimburse the cost of fuel." Saren said.

Aria smirked, "You won't hear me argue with that."

Saren let out a dry chuckle. And Aria motioned towards her ship. As Saren turned and moved off towards the ship Aria followed. With a little application of Spectre codes, Aria and Saren were flying off towards Thessia.

The flight was quiet, with Saren messing with his things and moving funds around. Aria dropped Saren off near Matriarch Benezia's home, knowing that he wanted to call in a favor from her.

Saren dropped funds for fuel into Aria's account and offered to do a favor for her one day. Aria flew off to the meeting point she set up with Joker. In orbit around the planet Patsayev in the system Pamyat which is in the Hades Nexus cluster. Aria established contact and Joker responded immediately, while chuckling he said, "This planet was always amusing. You see the message scrawled on the planet. It was made by a disgruntled mining prospector, done using an A-61 Mantis gunship. After spending fortunes trying to find eezo, he snapped and "borrowed" the gunship from a mercenary group and shot this 208 kilometer message right onto the planet in his language, Russian. It says, "Zdes' nichego net" which means "There's nothing here!" And now it's a tourist attraction. Oh, the irony."

"That is an amusing anecdote. Tell me, anything useful on the ship?" Aria said with a snort at the story.

"No, he kept things clean and neat. A few nice things here and there, but no real information. Although it seems he doesn't know how to wipe his navigation charts."

"Good. Once that's downloaded and decrypted we need to scrap that ship."

"Well, it'll be an hour and a half to download."

Aria signed off and decided to dig out Shepard's gun. She cleaned it and redisplayed it. Joker pinged once it was done downloading and asked, "How do you want this ship scrapped?"

"After scrubbing it of everything of use or unique markings, we sell it to Korlus. This ship can transport whatever we want to salvage." Aria answered after a moment of thought.

So they set to work after extending a small zero gravity docking connection. Joker did some software maintenance on what he assumed was Aria's ship since his condition prevented him from doing much work. That and he didn't see the gun on display tipping that this was in fact Shepard's ship.

Aria moved fast and transferred what little there was and jettisoned what couldn't be transported, but needed to be removed. She even nabbed the schematics for Saren's gadgets. Once she had finished she instructed Joker to pilot back to Omega.

Once back at Omega she directed Joker to dock in Shepard's hangar. Aria disembarked first to be greeted by Shepard, "Aria. How was your trip? Productive, I'll bet." Shepard had a wry smile on her face.

"Oh yes. I have a gift for you." Aria passed over Shepard's first issue of Fornax while smiling in amusement.

Shepard's eyebrows rose and her cheeks colored in awkward embarrassment. "Uh… Thanks."

Aria laughed, "Good to see your intrigued, Shepard. But, that was my idea of a joke, it's the first of your subscription. Your real gift is a pilot, that way you can get some sleep in transit. And if you outfit this ship with some weapons… well think of the advantages."

Shepard raised her eyebrow, tucked the magazine underneath her arm, and looked over Aria's shoulder. Joker hobbled into view, "At least one of us found a way to make both of our plans come true. Aria told me you planned on checking on me once the first year contract you made with her was up. Thanks for thinking of me."

"Joker!" Shepard said excitedly.

Aria sidestepped out of the way with a smirk and watched Shepard run forward and give Joker a careful hug, which was returned.

Aria's smile widened, she sensed the type of affection shown was more familial than romantic. "She needs some family, so good; even if they were cute."

Aria walked off to Afterlife to reassume all the administration Shepard was handling with Patriarch's help.


	10. Chapter 9: Joker's Wild

Chapter 9 Joker's Wild

Shepard had to deal with several bounty hunting mercs that arrived and Aria had her usual administrative duties. Shepard had given Joker money to purchase upgrades, and raw materials for upgrades, in order to improve her ship.

As he was leaving Aria contacted him, "Be careful. Not every pirate and merc group is under my direct control. Are you sure you won't let me give you a few bodyguards?"

"Thanks for the warning. And as for bodyguards, well… if you could arrange something for me for when I'm on Illium, that would be nice. I have someone who owes me a few favors on the Citadel."

"I'll see what can be done. Aria, out." She signed off.

Joker easily maneuvered the ship out and away from Omega. His first stop was of course Illium; where just about everything was legal since it was just outside Council space, and thus regulations.

Illium was only a couple short jumps away, but he still had a couple hours to sit and think. He marveled at his second complete reversal of fortune in less than a year. A grin appeared on his face, _I'm piloting again! And Shepard bought one hell of a ship. A little upgrade to the drive core and this baby'll outrun even interceptors. But I'll have to get the kinetic barriers upgraded as well, in case we get into a firefight or a situation where I'll have to deal with AA defenses. The fuel capacity should be upgraded as well, that will improve ability to do the odd jobs that sustain a mercenary career. And of course, Aria raised a fine point about weaponry. But that's why Illium is the first stop. I wouldn't trust the schematics on Illium for anything except weapons and maybe armor. Let's see, I should factor in all other upgrades before putting in the drive core upgrades. I should also improve basic propulsion and maneuverability, but that would best be accomplished on the Citadel. Maybe install a few extra hidden compartments, if for nothing else than basic storage._

While his mind was racing with what he could do he barely even realized he had arrived in Illium's system.

He disembarked and as he expected, Aria arranged security for him as he hobbled from shop stall to shop stall. His guards were, oddly, police officers. Aria must have done them a favor.

He continued through, having bought fair amount of weapons and paid for premium installation. Finally he stopped at a bar called Eternity. He stepped inside and walked up to the bar, the police took up positions to watch the room for signs of trouble. Joker motioned to the Asari barkeep. "Could I buy a drink?"

"What'll you have? Sorry, no sex. I just cleaned the bar." She said as she moved down the bar to him.

Joker guffawed, "Good, I wouldn't want my legs to break. Now, how about some beer?"

"Huh. I don't think I've ever broken someone's leg by accident before. What was with the comment?" She said while getting the beer and popping its top.

"Well, I- what's your name?" Joker asked.

"Aethyta." She answered.

"Well, Aethyta. I have what humans call Vrolik's syndrome. Basically my bones are really brittle and are easily broken."

"Ah. That explains the bodyguards, though not why they're cops. What brings you to Illium?"

"I got a job piloting for someone and I'm upgrading her ship. I started here to get some nonstandard weapons." He took a drink of the beer.

"So now you're just waiting for the weaponry to be installed."

"Yes, though it shouldn't be long…"

He and Aethyta talked for a few hours until someone contacted Joker to say everything was done.

Joker smirked at Aethyta and activated his Omni-tool. After a very fast remote diagnostic he responded to the person contacting him, "Bullshit. You have not connected the weapons to the central computer."

Aethyta laughed, "Good catch."

Joker chatted with her for a couple more hours. Then Joker headed back to the ship and did a full diagnostics, once he was satisfied that everything checked out on the software he carefully checked the wires and cables himself.

Finally he sat down in the pilot's seat, cracked his knuckles and set about the task of leaving with style. He lifted off and gunned the engines to flair out the nacelles as he accelerated into low orbit.

He stopped bragging and flew efficiently to the mass relay. He plotted a jump to Widow Nebula to get to the Citadel. He plotted a course to double back through the Terminus, by the way of Osun in the Hourglass Nebula.

Joker stumbled on some sort of large space station under construction. There were some Blue Suns ships patrolling the perimeter. "Whoops. It seems I've poked the hornet's nest."

The enemy ships moved toward him, "Unidentified vessel, identify yourself and state your intentions."

Joker smiled, "Well, it might be time to try out these brand new weapons." He primed the main gun, and computer loaded a missile. He answered the subspace message, "Vessel belonging to Commandant Shepard, under the employment of Aria T'loak. Passing through the relay en route to Citadel."

"Now why don't I believe you? Aside from the ID, which has just been confirmed." The Suns commander continued.

"Believe what you will. The question is what are you going to do about it?" Joker said with irritation to the enemy. The spacecraft was still flying towards the mass relay.

The Blue Suns ships angled in to block Joker's ship, "Prepare to be boarded."

"Ooh. Big mistake. Prepare to be blown to bits." Joker said to himself. He responded by locking onto the closest ship.

He fired and overloaded the kinetic barriers. He then fired the concussion missile and blew the target to bits. "Stand down and that will be your only casualty."

"Now it's personal, so no. Fuck off this channel." The enemy commander said.

Joker flicked the com off and loaded another missile. He shot through the shields of another and focused on crippling that ship, and launched a missile at a third ship. The second ship drifted away, crippled. The third ship lost all shields and drifted off course, electronics deactivated. The concussion missiles were designed to emit an electromagnetic pulse, so they double as "shield busters." That probably won't be used by military forces, but is good for commandos and mercenaries who can afford it.

One ship was still blocking his path. Joker smiled, _I get the feeling this is a harass. They want to capture this ship. The only reason for that would be if they thought Shepard was aboard. They haven't fired a single shot yet, and that's suspect._

As if that thought made them realize their mistake, they fired. But they fired haphazardly, which was just as suspect. Joker evaded the shot by banking off to port. He then fired the other weapon he bought on Illium, a cyber-warfare suite that could be directed at a single ship and unleashed to wreak havoc on opposing computers. Once the hack succeeded Joker remotely moved the ship out of his way. And moved through the relay, but before zipping away he said, "I told you it was a mistake."

And he laughed as he flew straight through to the Citadel. As he piloted in Joker received docking permission and cycled down the engines. He sent a message off to his contact to notify him that he had arrived.

He packed away everything important and grabbed his money. He stepped off and smiled at the Turian waiting for him with arms crossed with an amused smile. "Hey, Garrus. Good to see you got my message."

"How could I possibly ignore the ex-pilot who got away with stealing Saren Arterius's ship? I was seriously laughing for hours after Jondum Bao started asking questions in Control. Incidentally, he was laughing too." Garrus said with a chuckle. He added, "I'm off duty, so I can keep an eye on you."

"A visored eye, eh Garrus?"

Garrus's smile became lopsided as he adjusted the visor's controls, "No. The unaided eye is for you, the visor is for the people looking to hurt you."

Joker exhaled in amusement and headed into the elevator. Garrus stepped in after him. "So what are we doing?"

"Purchasing upgraded equipment for the ship you saw me disembark from. I bought some weapons on Illium, now I need armor, propulsion, kinetic barriers, drive core, and fuel. And maybe a few irregular, but legal, things. All of that I'm getting here. I'm also hiring someone to install it all."

"Man you are lucky no one remembers what you look like. Don't spread your nickname or name around while in C-Sec, I guarantee people remember that. Even though Saren didn't file charges."

"He didn't file charges?" Joker asked in surprise.

"When he heard it was how you chose to quit, he found it pretty amusing."

"Well, it's not as though he had any sensitive information onboard. I assume he had a favor he could call in for alternative transportation." Joker nodded as the elevator opened and they immediately stepped into the elevator to the Presidium.

Garrus chose the elevator to ask, "You poked around in his ship?"

Joker turned a sardonic dry look on Garrus, "No. I stole a Spectre's ship and sold it wholesale without poking around for anything even vaguely interesting. Come on, Garrus! Are you telling me you wouldn't have relished a chance to snoop around in such a normally top classified vessel?"

Garrus held his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright, alright, I would've had a look around too." He re-crossed his arms and asked, "So what was in the ship? And what'd you do with it?"

"Oh, you know. Some fancy equipment, schematics for if he needed repairs, and navigation charts. Some of the nav charts would have to be unreported. I mean it was Saren's ship after all. Anyway, I salvaged anything of real value, or informational value, and sold the rest to a planet that is known for buying without asking questions. After I scrubbed all identifiers from the ship of course."

"Wait, then how…?" Garrus began.

Joker interrupted with a hearty laugh and a small lie, "What? You thought I stole that on the spur of the moment? I was hired for that. And no, not by the person who has hired me now." The elevator door opened and Joker began buying upgrades while he was chatting.

"Well, I guess we can rule Aria out, she was in the middle of it when you took off. Hit her with some nasty back burn and fried her communicator as she was calling for one of the fleets to intercept the ship. Hell, she even gave Saren a lift to Thessia. Tela Vasir was pissed, but she actually admires your gall."

"Well, Aria did find me and did hire me after I scrapped Saren's ship." Joker said as he had the new kinetic barriers sent to the docking bay for installation.

"Oh, so she's your new employer now? Don't blame her. I'd have been impressed enough to hire you after that." Garrus said as Joker was paying for a thicker and more structurally dense armor to be painted, treated, and installed.

"Technically, though Aria hired me I work for one of her employees. How's your family?" Joker asked politely, but with real concern.

"Dad's close to retirement, I think he wants one last big bust before doing so, though. Sis is doing alright back on Palavan, but I think she's chafing for some action herself. Mom's alright for now; but after her honorable discharge, a decade before most get it, I think she's seriously bored." Garrus kept his answers succinct.

"And you? How's the bureaucracy treating you?" Joker asked as he bought up a more efficient fuel system, as well as a dynamic propulsion system. Finally he decided to splurge and bought an aftermarket fuel tank he knew was compatible that had at least fifty percent higher capacity.

Garrus was still formulating his answer as Joker looked into a larger mass effect fusion core. Finally Garrus settled on blunt truth, "I'm alright, but bureaucracy is hell. I have to fill out a dozen forms before I can even get an arrest warrant, let alone every damn form and piece of paperwork if the "suspect" is injured resisting arrest." His voice took on an exasperated tone, "And Spirits forfend if the mass murdering psychopath is killed in an arrest attempt."

Joker had paid for the mass effect core and decided that that was enough shopping for that day. He'd spend an entire day reconfiguring the maneuvering system and propulsion himself as some actual techs installed the rest of the stuff he bought. He guided Garrus to a restaurant that catered to dextro and levo life forms. Garrus was too wrapped up in his venting to notice and when Joker finally said something, he realized they were sitting down and he had dextro coffee in his hands, which made him blink in confusion. Joker said, "That sounded specific. Vent, man."

Garrus decided to just accept the change in surroundings and took a sip of the coffee, "It was a couple days after you left. I was assigned to help the team that had been working on solving the Ward Strangler cases. They were getting nowhere and the case was nearly turning into a need for a full manhunt and near martial law. Something I think everyone wanted to avoid. They requested fresh eyes, and since I was just promoted to investigative field agent I was the freshest. After I took a look at what they had: about twenty suspects, all with alibis and weak motives; I saw that the killer was leaving evidence on purpose to bait the police. They admitted that they had yet to follow up on that evidence because it seemed so obvious and no one had a desire to play by the killer's rules. I decided to look at everything from another perspective. I tried to look for patterns to determine any clue as to the next killing. The MO had already established that the next killing was likely to take place in the next two days. I found enough of a pattern to ID a few possibilities as to the targets. My theory was rejected because some of the target possibilities were actually suspects. But to mollify me they placed those people under observation. Finally, after one of the people, and a suspect no less, had turned up dead they agreed to my plan to try and trap the bastard in the act. Long story short we were tailing every possible target that I could think of. Since the targets were only Asari, Human, and Salarian with only an occasional Turian it was narrowed down somewhat. Eventually one of the units called for backup and the perp ran, leaving his victim in haste. Unfortunately, we weren't able to save her. Finally in his haste he turned a corner to a police barricade, we had him cornered. We were surprised when we saw that it was a Hanar who had gone off the deep end. Shouting maniacal things like, "The true Enkindlers shall return soon, and all organics will bow to their might!… Or else face extinction." Of course my favorite was his last words before he pulled several pistols, one for each tentacle, and opened fire. He said, "You pathetic wretches, building your "grand" civilizations on stolen technologies and borrowed time. Building upon the ruins of the past which were built upon the ruins of a more distant past. When your time is up, the true Enkindlers will sweep away your vaunted power like cosmic dust caught in a solar wind. The Eternal Ones will arise once more from dark space!" He got some close shots, but I took him down with my rifle. Filled out paperwork for days."

"That… That's uh… creepy." Joker said, "What the hell did he believe? I mean his repeating of the "true" Enkindlers seems to lead to something other than Protheans.

"Who the hell knows. The guy was bat shit insane, as the human saying goes… Right?" Garrus said with a shrug. Though he ended with an inquisitive look.

Joker chuckled and said, "Yeah, that's right." Joker sighed, "Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but sometimes I still question the conventional wisdom that the Protheans were the first galactic empire after billions of years. And that they simply vanished without a trace, and barely fifty thousand years later the Asari popped on in on this derelict, but still perfectly functional and atmospherically tuned station. Let alone with a race of evolutionarily dead end… well, Keepers. I mean is it so hard to think that maybe, just maybe, the Protheans built on ruins that they found? And if so, did they have legends of sudden inexplicable disappearance of whomever built _those_ ruins?"

Garrus simply stared at Joker with a quizzical expression on his face.

After a few seconds of silence Joker sighed and gave Garrus a pleasant smile, "Well, you know my condition tends to make me unusually philosophical; since I usually have nothing else to do. Gives me a lot of time alone with little to do but read, think, listen or watch."

Garrus relaxed, "I suppose you have a point, anyways. I mean the galaxy _is_ over 13 billion years old. There must have been other, far older civilizations."

Joker chuckled, "Besides. I also have trouble merely accepting that the Protheans were peaceful diplomats that had a civilization that spanned the majority of the galaxy. I mean the only records of them we have are pretty much _from_ them. History is written by the victor after all."

Garrus thought about that and said, "True, they could have had a full blown militaristic empire and merely absorbed smaller species into the empire that submitted, and destroyed the ones that didn't. But you won't convince the scholars of that."

Joker smiled, "No, they're too wrapped up in their romanticized view of them as great scientists, philosophers, and peacemakers. There was a culture on Earth that was a little like that, the Mayans. Their cities were long since abandoned by the time we rediscovered them. They looked astonishing with stark white stone overgrown with jungle vines and covered in intricate carvings. From that, research was done to try and translate the writings and carvings spread throughout the ruins. When things were just beginning to be cracked, we were coming out of a devastating world war that changed the collective psyche, a backlash against violence occurred. We found evidence that they were highly accomplished astronomers and even had complete lunar and solar calendars that projected ahead centuries with startling accuracy. This led us to believe that this was a society of astronomer priests and scholars. Which had some truth; but in reality, as we found later, they were a very violent and angry people."

Garrus and Joker continued their conversation for a time while enjoying a good meal. The next day Joker spent aboard the ship working on some of the installation work, knowing that it'll still be a few days before he could leave.


	11. Chapter 10: Zaeed's Hunt

Chapter 10 Zaeed's Hunt…

Shepard leaned back in her seat and rubbed at her temples. Aria glanced over from her Omni-tool and asked, "Biotic migraine?"

"Nope. Good old fashioned headache." Shepard drawled.

Aria's messages beeped. She looked and said, "Zaeed's coming by. That should distract from the headache. And feel free to take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow too."

"Thanks. I'll think about it." Shepard said as she sat up and checked her suit, knowing Zaeed wouldn't waste her time.

Aria returned to what she was doing. Shepard wasn't eavesdropping, but she could hear Aria murmuring, "…So it's a true hybrid of Turian and Human design. The humans are contributing the mechanics and electronics. While Turians are giving top of the line, experimental weapons. The general design of the hull will be pretty much Turian, but the humans are making the propulsion nacelles flexible for increased maneuverability at speed. Clever. That explains how Hackett was able to get the Turians to agree to give the Humans team lead."

Zaeed was up quickly and straight to business, "Aria. I won't be checking in after this assignment. The target is wanted alive and I need to deliver her fast. It's been an unusual and long hunt. And I've got some leads for my own vendetta I want to start on before they get too cold."

Aria nodded and motioned for Shepard to follow him as he turned to leave. Shepard caught up and asked, "Details?"

Once they were out of the club Zaeed answered, "Target won't be on your program, my guess would be she smuggled herself on without anyone else on the ship knowing she was there."

Shepard raised her brows, "She wouldn't be that thief that Aria told me about, would she?"

"No, I'd never take a job tracking her. I hate defaulting on contracts, after all."

"Well, then who are we hunting?" Shepard asked.

"A human who has been collaborating with the Batarian Hegemony's proxy war. She's been selling them information, but the weird thing is the info gap the Alliance has found is that the information of fleet movements is only just enough for a slave grab at an inconsequential colony… Sorry, Mindoir was on the list." Zaeed winced as the implication of what he was saying hit him.

Shepard waved her hand dismissively, "You don't have to tell me that Mindoir is in the middle of nowhere." She turned serious, "But what you are saying leads me to believe she was acting under someone else's orders."

"She _has_ had some black ops training, and presumably experience, so perhaps an old commanding officer has gone rogue and took their forces with them. Or this is just a backhanded way of forcing the Alliance to keep military spending up at the cost of a couple hundred colonists every year." Zaeed noted.

"Could be… It's cold, and calculating. But it would certainly work to that end. Leaders, ruling parties, and shadowy groups have been conjuring crises like that for centuries." Shepard appeared thoughtful.

They both shrugged that it was moot to discuss why. Zaeed provided a description of what she looked like and they started their search. It took nearly that entire day of searching through camera feeds and chasing down vague leads until they thought they had something substantial. It turned out to be their mark, but rather than tip their hands they tailed discreetly.

Apparently realizing something was off; the woman ducked into an alleyway and seemed to vanish when Shepard and Zaeed turned the corner. "Damn! She gave us the slip!" Zaeed said in frustration.

Shepard was busily tapping furiously at her Omni-tool. After three seconds of silence she answered, "Got her! Clearly she's done some research on this station, but there are many secrets here." Shepard fed Zaeed directions through various back alleys to cut their prey off and corner her. Shepard herself moved through the secret access tunnels to be sure to catch the woman.

Once she thought she got away Zaeed ambled directly into her line of sight with Jesse pointing right at her. She tried to turn around and make a run for it, but all she ran into was a wall of biotic energy. The woman glanced back and forth, and evidently realized that the chase was over, "Well, Mr. Massani. You worked your ass off for this one, so out of respect I will refrain from swallowing the cyanide capsule in my molar until after you collect your full payment."

Zaeed raised a brow and said with a dry smirk, "Fair enough."

She offered no resistance and walked off towards Zaeed's ship. Once she was onboard Zaeed turned to Shepard, "Like I said to Aria, a long unusual hunt. Thanks for the help, Shepard."

"No problem, Zaeed. See you next time." Shepard said.

Zaeed's ship took off and left. Shepard sighed and looked around. Joker was still on the Citadel, and she felt she could use some time off. She contacted Aria to let her know she was taking her up on the offer. She stopped by the apartment that Aria had set up for her and changed into more comfortable clothing.

She wandered in the direction of Afterlife for a while. Before she could get there, though, a sudden and insistent sonic screech made her drop to her knees in pain. The last thing she felt before blacking out was the butt of a rifle slamming into the back of her head.

_Hours Later_

Shepard groaned as she woke up and tried to move her arms. Her eyes snapped open as she realized that her arms were restrained above her head and her feet were restrained about a foot off the ground. There was just enough slack to be uncomfortable. She heard a voice in her blind spot chuckle and say menacingly, "Awake at last… good. Revenge isn't half as satisfying when the subject is knocked out."

Shepard's eyes narrowed in fury, "…That voice… You must be Tarak. Where's Charn, so I can kill him too."

Tarak smacked the bruise on the back of Shepard's head causing a jolt of pain and a renewed headache. "Did Aria tell you that?"

Shepard smiled wryly and sneered, "No. One of your _loyal and fearless_ scouts told me. Right before I splattered his brains on a prefab with a biotic punch."

"Ah yes, your biotics. Thanks for reminding me." He snapped his fingers and one of his lackeys roughly, but precisely, made an incision and forcibly removed the implant. Shepard screamed in pain. Tarak made another signal and his mechanic, Sargent Cathca, stepped forward and cauterized the cut with his Omni-tool. Tarak spoke as Shepard shook from the pain, "Charn and I parted ways. My primary career is Blue Suns Captain; The Hegemony tapped me for Mindoir. But you had to humiliate me. You ruined Charn's dreams of attaining his own command, and the Hegemony isn't likely to tap me again for a long while."

Shepard looked up at Tarak with hatred, "Big fucking deal! Oh, I ruined your career? You murdered my parents and destroyed my home!"

"YOUR RACE STOLE THAT FUCKING PLANET FROM THE HEGEMONY!" Tarak shouted as he grabbed Shepard's throat and squeezed. "IT-" he relaxed his grip and calmed himself, "It should have been ours from the start."

He withdrew his gauntleted grip and signaled for the torturer to step forward. "We've got a couple days of _fun_ before I have to kill you before Aria gets suspicious. It'll be easy to frame Eclipse or Blood Pack for your death, Eclipse is already on thin ice with Aria, and Blood Pack already tried a coup recently as you know. So there's no need to rush. I promise you a slow and excruciating end." He sneered that last sentence inches from her face.

He walked away to make preparations for the coming frame up as the torturer gathered his implements. After a few hours the torturer took his break and gave directions to wake her when she began to fall asleep and for thirst give her vinegar. The day passed much in this way.

Another day passed in this way and Shepard was getting delirious from lack of sleep and blood loss. Let alone the pure lightheadedness that comes from the sudden loss of her implant.

The next morning Shepard; as though through the pain, near delirium, and desperation; mental barriers broke down and when the torturer was about to start, Shepard biotically wrenched the cutting implement from his hand and sent it at his neck, killing him. Then she broke the restraints on her hands. The guards were too shocked to move and that was enough for her to recover from falling awkwardly. In her rage Shepard looked to the small room that Tarak had set as his men's barracks and launched a massive flare of biotic dark energy into the room. Everyone in the room was obliterated. Shepard then punched the Batarian closest to her hard enough to knock him back a couple feet, but before he fell out of reach Shepard grabbed his shotgun from his grasp by the barrel. Before holding the shotgun correctly she used her momentum to carry an uppercut to the second closest Batarian with handle of the shotgun. She then flipped the shotgun around to the correct grip and fired twice, killing those two Batarians. Riding her adrenaline she moved to the next room.

The screams of terror and pain awoke Tarak on the other side of his base. He checked the cameras and froze when he saw Shepard stalking through his base, shotgun in hand, shooting anything in her way, and occasionally launching biotics. He quickly grabbed his mechanic and his second in command, a human woman named Jentha, who had supported this because she seemed to have a crush on her boss. They gathered important equipment and loaded into his gunship. They lifted off just in time to watch two of Tarak's elite gunned down as they ran into the hangar. Shepard limped into the hangar and watched as Tarak flew away; the gunship apparently had not been outfitted with the guns yet.

Shepard dropped to her knees and grimaced. The shotgun dropped from suddenly limp fingers. From the deep recesses of her mind she summoned up some fresh hot rage. "TARAK! ONE DAY I'LL FIND YOU! One day I'll end this… one way or another." She then coughed blood and looked down, apparently during her breakout a couple Batarians got off multiple lucky shots.

Attempting to keep a steady breathing pattern around her shaky body and bleeding wounds. She slowly got to her feet. She had barely limped twenty feet before breaking down in tears. Not from the pain, though. All the emotions she had buried for the past seven months since the attack on Mindoir had been dragged to the surface. She hadn't dealt with it at all. She thought that she had during those two weeks alone on the planet. In that moment she grieved for the loss of her family, even if saying she wasn't close would be a massive understatement. With a thought towards her job with Aria, Shepard was thankful that she hadn't brought any of her equipment, not even her Omni-tool. But she was missing the Medi-gel. As she looked around, trying to get her bearings, her mind wandered through memories of her parents and the colony. The grieving took her mind off her wounds. If she dwelled too long on the physical state of her body, she'd be unable to move.

Finally she found an access tunnel and moved her way towards Aria's "office" in Afterlife along a long path with the fewest ladders. Her vision was blurring badly when she got about halfway. Her breathing pattern broke down as more blood was coughed out. Through superhuman effort she pushed herself to Aria's office. She also tried to keep her blood loss low with a biotic barrier.

"…So the plans are finalized? Good. Steal the technical schematics for the drive core, and if you can, schematics for everything else." She hung up and looked up as she reviewed a few things in other sectors of her organization. "Shepard?! What the fuck happened?"

"T… (Cough, Cough, Cough. Shaky and shallow breath) Batarian leader from… Mindoir." She wheezed out.

She collapsed to her knees and proceeded to pass out from exhaustion and blood loss. Aria's guards were dealing with someone foolish enough to fuck with her. So she was unrestrained in her reaction. Aria ran forward and was on her Omni-tool calling the best medical professional she knew, "Mordin! Mordin answer the damn comm!" As she was speaking Aria knelt by Shepard and was doing what little she could.

"Aria? What's wrong?" Mordin answered after only a minute, which is the standard delay time for expensive long distance communication private links.

"How fast can you get to Omega? Shepard is in need of your healing touch."

"I can be there by tomorrow. What can you tell me right now?"

"From the sheer amount of cuts, I'd say blood loss. Better be prepared for concussion, dehydration, and… shit, bullet wounds. Ah fuck she must have been tortured; there are ligature marks on her wrists and ankles." She lifted Shepard's head and her fingers brushed the cauterized scar and she gasped, "And her human biotic implant has apparently been forcibly removed. Weird though, I could swear she surrounded herself with a barrier."

"Will run tests when there. What psychologically would I be looking at, if she's been seriously cut and wakes up during a surgery, that could be… problematic." Mordin said.

Aria bit her lip in uncharacteristic nervousness, "I'll try a knowledge bond, but I won't force it. If she's defending her mind I'm not forcing myself through."

"Anything would be helpful." Mordin encouraged.

Aria gently cradled Shepard's head between her hands and extended her consciousness. Immediately Aria's mind was filled with images, emotions and physical sensations of the past three days. She kept it up for as long as she could, but then severed the link when it became too potent, even for her.

"Aria? Aria? Are you alright?" Mordin was saying over the comm.

Aria was practically panting from the effort. Through gritted teeth she said, "The physical pain was _immense._ But the real effect of this is it opened the floodgates for all she hadn't grieved for from Mindoir. The ice cold fury, the boiling hot rage, the crushing loneliness, the hatred, but no real fear…" There was a sense of admiration in her tone.

"Am on my way from Tuchanka." Mordin reported.

Aria's mind moved away from Shepard to Mordin, _Tuchanka, he's still guilty deep down. When will he realize that?_ "Definitely look into her biotic capabilities, because without the implant she was using some impressive biotic moves."

"Most definitely. And Aria?" Mordin was about to say something.

"Hm?"

"It's clear to me you care about her, make it clear to her. It may help the loneliness." Mordin said. Not many could get away with speaking this way to Aria.

Aria smiled, "Thanks Mordin."

When the comm shut off, Aria gently scooped Shepard up and quickly moved her to a private medical facility that she owned. She looked at Shepard's face and, in the privacy of her own facility, allowed her own worry to show.


	12. Chapter 11: Mordin MD

Chapter 11 Mordin MD

Mordin's transport cancelled on him and annoyed him. But Aria had a contingency. She called Joker. Joker was mostly done with the installations, but when Aria contacted him he nearly drove himself into a panic attack over the news. Garrus was able to calm him though.

He got Mordin to Omega several hours ahead of schedule. The first thing Mordin said to Aria upon disembarking was, "Can see why you hired Joker. He cut my travel time by nearly 12 hours."

Aria chuckled, "Yeah, Shepard has an eye for talent."

Mordin rushed off to begin his work. It was a tense six hours before he delivered his report to Aria, "Shepard will most likely make it, but she should take about a month to recover. Am waiting for test results of biotics now, should be ready tomorrow."

"Uh… doc? When will she wake up?" Joker asked from Aria's couch.

"Should be awake in a couple days. After I deal with her biotics situation, will leave detailed care instructions."

Aria got up, "Thanks Mordin. Could I have a word with you in private?"

Mordin, while smiling, gestured in the direction of his transport. Aria kept pace and said, "What are you planning for retirement? STG is going to retire you next year since they don't need you to go to Tuchanka anymore."

Mordin stayed silent longer than he ever had before. Finally he inhaled deeply through his nose and said, "Haven't given it much thought. Am approaching forty, but unsure how much longer I'll live. You know Salarian lifespan is short, most don't even reach forty. Maybe open a clinic?"

Aria smirked, "No ethical ambiguity or dilemma, huh? Omega's slums could always use a stubborn clinic that won't bow to the bullies that are Blue Suns and Blood Pack. Eclipse stays away from that district. They always thought they were above the petty extortion and protection racket for residential apartments."

"Will consider it. Still probably won't set up a clinic for some time. A few other things I always wanted to try. Places to see." Mordin said in a more jovial mood. "By the way, not leaving yet. Have some theories about Shepard's biotics. Unique theories."

"What sort of theories?" Aria was intrigued ever since the knowledge bond showed Shepard sending that huge flare without an implant.

"Unsure, but contact Serrice Council. If I'm right we could use their high quality amps. If I'm wrong, we could always get an Omni-tool."

Aria's brows rose, "Serrice Council? I'll get right on that." After a few seconds of silent thought Aria asked, "How bad is the scarring?"

Mordin waved dismissively, "Was able to keep permanent scarring low. But she will have a few new ones."

"It's a good thing she isn't one to be vain." Aria blew a breath out of the side of her mouth.

After Mordin booked passage a few days in advance he went back to the hospital lab to wait. A few hours after the results came back Mordin cried out, "Holy crap! Need to double check that. …Unexpected."

After another ten minutes Mordin walked over to Aria, "Contact Serrice Council, get the Savant mark X biotic amp. Might as well also purchase the Savant mark X Omni-tool."

"Why?" Joker asked.

"Apparently Alliance test for biotic capabilities are more rudimentary than one would think. Probably only test viability of their own implants, rather than raw biotic potential." Mordin explained.

"No the Alliance has those tests; they just reserve them for their military forces." Joker said with an irritated and dismissive wave of his left hand.

"So how much biotic potential does she have? Serrice Council screens everyone who buys their amps very thoroughly; I'll need to give them something." Aria asked.

"Comparable to Asari Matriarch or talented Krogan Battlemaster." Mordin answered, much to the shock of Aria and Joker. He added, "Tell them that Dr. Mordin Solus tested her ability to handle an amp himself. Their vetting process managerial staff owes me a few favors."

"Me too. I can get it all expedited." Aria added as she began placing the order.

Mordin said, "My transport doesn't leave for a few more days, so I'll install the amp myself when it gets here. She should wake up tomorrow; I'll call you when she does."

_Hours Later_

Shepard breathed in sharply and groaned as her eyes shot open and she looked around without lifting her head. Faintly she heard someone singing, but couldn't make out the words. She vaguely recognized the tune as being a patter song common to comic operas of the late nineteenth century on Earth. She rasped out, "H- Hello?"

Mordin stepped into her line of sight and gave her his best reassuring smile, "Ah, awake at last. Good, as I thought might happen you awoke a couple hours earlier than would normally be expected. Should tell you, Aria is having trouble tracking Tarak down. Seems he's gone to ground. Here, you must be thirsty." He handed her a cup of cool water. He then said, "When you're more recovered you can enjoy the gift of Batarian ale some of Aria's bodyguards got for you. I think they feel bad for how their race is being represented to you."

Shepard chuckled and rasped out as she lied back down, "I don't blame them for what a few Batarians have done. If you judge a species by a few bad examples, well there wouldn't be any good species left."

Mordin laughed, "True. I'll contact Aria and let her know you're awake. I suspect Joker will also want to know."

"Thanks… Mordin, right?" Shepard said.

"Yes, pleased you remembered. I'll tell them to give you another hour or two before visiting. It's amazing how tiring laying down and healing can be."

Shepard chuckled as she closed her eyes.

_An hour later_

"Good to see you're awake, Shepard. Since we're in private, except Mordin there… You had me so fucking worried! What happened?" Aria took a seat next to Shepard on the medical bed Mordin provided.

"Mordin told me you did a knowledge bond, so you probably know what happened."

"Sorry, I should have been more specific. I realized I never asked you about the attack on your home. Or the weeks you spent alone on a planet filled with nothing but bad memories and corpses. We've worked together for… what is it now? Seven months? Whatever. Anyway, I realized I never once asked how you were, or what had happened. I don't make friends easy, but then you come along and ruin my track record with people!"

Shepard raised an eyebrow in mild confusion and Aria's serious expression cracked into sheer laughter, "My track record of scaring everyone!"

"Sorry." Shepard released a sigh and relaxed some of her tension, "You want to know the story?" Aria biotically pulled a chair from the corner and sat down facing Shepard. "Where should I start?"

"Why don't you start with that huge red scar on your face?" Aria said bluntly, knowing that Shepard wouldn't take affront to it.

"This?" She traces the scar wincing as she does, it still carries pain. "This goes back way before the Batarian raid. There isn't much to do on a small farm colony for high school seniors, except beat on the freshman. Or try and fail to, in my case when they picked me to fight. After knocking around the senior girls the boys got insulted that I won and tried to jump me. They were only marginally more successful, in that one of them pulled a switchblade knife in desperation and managed to cut my face. It's actually the first time I used my biotics, after he cut me I slammed him back against a pole. I walked over to him picked him up with my left hand and lifted him off his feet, then I slammed his head against the pole again, kneed him in the gut as I let go of his face and slammed my left elbow into his temple. Before he even hit the ground I caught him by the throat with my right hand and lifted him up as high as I could reach, and I squeezed down for a few seconds before throwing him face first into the ground. He really pissed me off."

"No wonder you can fist fight two Krogan at once and win easily." Aria said with an amused shake of her head and a wry grin.

Mordin blinked, "Did I hear that right? She punched out Krogan? I thought she was still exaggerating."

"I've got video proof, but that's another story for another day, Mordin. Continue, please." Aria answered.

"Well, as irritating as the cut was it wasn't nearly enough to create a scar like this. Tired and bleeding I made my way home. My father barely ever even noticed me, so lost in his scientific tests or reading materials; and my mother was fall down drunk, as she so often was. The only medi-gel in the house was some extra from my father's tests, he contracted out to Sirta Foundation occasionally. Unbeknownst to me, it was a batch meant for dextro DNA life forms. I applied it believing it to be normal medi-gel. It closed the wound and stopped the bleeding but it came at a… slight cost. I didn't realize it at the time, too much pain and chemically sizzling skin, but I was nearly killed."

"Nearly killed? I don't understand, getting the wrong type of medi-gel is rarely lethal, even less so if it's just one bad cut being treated. Though the pain would be about that bad." Mordin interrupted.

"Sirta was attempting to find out what went wrong in the batch they sent my father, who carelessly put it in the medicine cabinet in a standard container. It genetically poisoned me, but not permanently, Mordin. I was laid up for weeks as my body purged it with my dad's help; the scar is just the last remnant of it. It still flairs out in pain when I get a headache, biotic ones anyway. It's also why the color doesn't fade from the scar." Shepard shifted in her seat a bit, she looked up at Aria with a sad look, "Can we move on? Remembering the scar brings up some of the worse memories of my parents. Let alone the pain of that fucking Medi-gel."

"Alright then, we'll move on to… what?" Aria asked politely letting Shepard direct the storytelling.

"Well, the day of the attack. There was no warning, the comm buoys on that end of the fringes worked only intermittently. I had an uneasy feeling though, so I went to my family's shed and grabbed my antique gun and what ammo I had. I figured if nothing came of the bad feeling, I could go target shooting. Less than an hour later the attack began with an EMP burst…" Shepard recounted the events of the attack in detail. "…So I got up after crying for a couple minutes and gathered some firewood and kindling to build a funeral pyre for two."

"You slaughtered forty six Batarians in three hours. I looked into the Batarian raid, it was no training exercise they were all experienced veterans of raids. You never cease to amaze, Shepard." Aria chuckled.

Mordin's chemical experiment popped, much to his mild surprise, "Whoops. Too much Astatine. Well, down the drain it goes." After pouring the liquid away he said, "Please continue. Did you try contacting the patrol fleet again?"

Shepard smirked at Mordin, "Yes, several times in fact. But I'll get to that. After I burned my parent's bodies I went in search of some farm equipment to dig a huge ditch. It took me another four or so hours, and even then I misjudged it when I had dragged all the bodies over and had to spend another two hours widening and lengthening the ditch. The first night I fell asleep in the driver's seat of that tractor, fortunately it wasn't running. The next morning I got up to the stench of rotting corpses and had no appetite. My emotional state might have had something to do with that too, I suppose. I threw the corpses into the ditch, and set a lot of fuel aside to burn the bodies, before lighting it I thought it might be one hell of a sight for that dick Alliance captain and lieutenant that didn't believe me. So instead I went back to the communications hub I shot at in frustration. I spent about half the day repairing the surprisingly little damage I had done with some schematics I found in the building. Finally I ate something that night. But with how my mood was, it didn't sit well and I threw it up about three hours into trying to sleep. I suppose I could have just had something bad, but I think it was more my state of mind. After tossing and turning without sleep I got up the next morning and tuned the orbital sensor satellites and scanned the planet. That's when I proved to myself that I really was alone. That's the first time I tried to contact the Alliance after the attack… it didn't go well. I got three words, "I am alone." The bitchy lieutenant began to lecture me on the morality of prank calls to military forces. I left the damn thing on for two hours as I cleaned out my Kovalyov assault rifle. When she was finally finished I sighed and said, "For the last time, this is not a prank call. Everyone is either dead or gone, congratulations on losing a colony's entire population." I admit I was being sarcastic and wry in tone. She cut the call without another word, but not before I heard Joker sigh in irritation and whisper a rather insolent, "Fine!"

"Bitch." Aria mumbled.

"Most definitely." Mordin nodded from his work station.

Shepard smiled in appreciation for the support. Then she continued, "After that, to keep me busy I gathered and sorted the equipment the Batarians died with. None of it was all that good, except the Kovalyov I took during the attack. I had more luck eating that night, but no more luck sleeping. I spent the next five days trying to deal with my emotions. It was mostly unsuccessful due to bad memories around every corner, and a distinct lack of good memories."

"Bad memories?" Aria found herself asking.

"I- I… uh… (Sigh) My mother became… verbal when drunk. And she was almost always drunk. When she wasn't drunk, she… Well, the best I can say is she wasn't physically abusive. I think she was afraid of what I'd do if she ever did try to hurt me. My father is more of a story of neglect. We pretty much never said more than three words to each other on any given day, and there were long stretches of no words spoken between us lasting weeks. That said, he was the better parent. As neglectful as he was, he didn't hate or resent me. And though he never really interacted with me; he did observe me in a sort of cold, scientific way. He cared enough to leave me an inheritance that was enough to buy my ship, and to essentially write mother out of it in the event of only his death. Even still, I would have liked to have had some sort of interaction with him."

Shepard closed her eyes to try and keep her voice under control. Aria and Mordin glanced at each other, and Aria whispered into her Omni-tool, sending the signal to Mordin's, "She's censoring it. It's worse than she's letting on."

Mordin responded, "Yes, but she's not deluding herself. She doesn't want to be pitied, but she appreciates our interest and sympathy."

Aria smirked, "Thank you, O Great Dabbler in Psychology."

Mordin just gave her a jokingly baleful glare.

Shepard opened her eyes as Mordin turned back around casually and Aria was already waiting patiently for Shepard, but Shepard was too perceptive. "So I assume you figured out that I was toning it down. Fine, just imagine anything in the realm of possibility; I probably resisted it or it happened to me." She began mumbling, "Stuck on a colony of bitches and assholes, a cruel sometimes violent mother, and a _mostly_ uncaring father."

"Violent?" This time Mordin spoke up.

Shepard blinked out of the dark mood she put herself in, "Well, up until I turned thirteen and I finally punched back. She wasn't expecting it at all, I can still picture that sickening smile fade away as my fist came into inches of her face. She was out cold, having already been drunk. She never tried to hit me again, and in fact flinched around me for a couple weeks. I'm not sure, but I think that's when my father started paying closer attention to me, when he didn't have research, and also probably wrote me in as his primary recipient. And yes, I know I'm still probably downplaying it."

She sighed, "Back to the last week alone. To sum up I called that small fleet at least four or five more times urging them to get there faster. On one of the calls the lieutenant and captain Mikhalovich both threatened to cut Mindoir off their route if I called again. That was near the end of the two weeks, and I panicked. Mindoir is on the tail end of obscurity. It's so close to both the Terminus and Batarian space that it's pretty much written off already. I didn't know what else could happen! If they never showed up I'd be stuck on that planet with no way off for who knows how long. And that's assuming the Batarians wouldn't have tried a second raid just to get rid of me. Mindoir, despite how far away from most things it is, would make a good smuggling storage planet or pirate base. A slightly better scenario, but not by much, would have been a Terminus pirate raid. I admit when he made that threat I broke down. The solitude trapped with horrible thoughts and depressing memories was getting to me."

There was a knock on the door in the middle of Shepard's story and Aria glanced at her Omni-tool, and then remotely opened the door. Shepard noted it, but didn't stop the story. But when she got to the last sentence she noticed Joker sitting in a chair of his own in a corner.

Joker spoke up just as Shepard finished speaking, "Like I told you, I piped all your calls through to the whole crew, and the two frigates. Most of the crew was unconvinced, but that one turned everyone to your side. Well, except Mikhalovich and that bitch of an XO. I imagine they weren't convinced until you lit that pile of Batarian corpses ablaze. That call scared the crap out of everyone. Your reaction to Mikhalovich threatening to cut Mindoir was so sincere that it made the crew feel like they were in your place."

Mordin picked that moment to turn around with an empty syringe. Shepard glanced over, "Doing some blood work?"

"Just a test to give me a bit of a time frame for when I can get your new biotic amps installed. By the way Aria, how far off are they?"

"They should be here from Illium tomorrow, along with the Omni-tools. It'll be interesting to see what you can do with the amps, but without the human implant. If you need to talk, place a call, alright?" Aria got up and comfortingly patted Shepard's shoulder before leaving.

Mordin took his blood sample from Shepard with no fuss and began his tests. Joker moved to Aria's now vacated seat and pulled out a deck of cards. While Mordin worked, humming away, Joker and Shepard played some cards.


	13. Chapter 12: Rival Warlords and Despots

Chapter 12 Rival Warlords and Despots

_A month later_

"It's coming much easier now. I think with just a little more practice it'll be effortless." Shepard said in answer.

Aria nodded and sipped at her drink, "Good. Your biotics are more powerful than even mine; it'd be a shame if you didn't develop it."

Just then a Batarian guard ran up and said, "Aria, Code Alpha Three."

"Crap! I wasn't expecting that. Well you know the drill, get it all ready." Aria responded as she made a few notes on her Omni-tool.

"Code Alpha Three? Do you need me to get into my armor?" Shepard asked.

Aria thought for a couple seconds as she mentally judged Shepard's condition. Finally she said, "Forgo the helmet. I'll come with you and explain what all the fuss is about."

Shepard got up and walked with a heavy limp towards her apartment. Aria assigned Anto as her bodyguard and assistant, as Aria was fond of him. Even though he was selling information on who was meeting with Aria. As they made their way out of the club a group of Batarian thugs stopped Shepard and started to try and pick a fight. Aria and Anto were about to intervene when Shepard held up a hand to stop them. She turned to the Batarians and put a sneering snarl on her face. The Batarians' faces drained of color and they ran off with barely an apology. Shepard dropped the look, turned to Anto and Aria and raised her eyebrow with a slight amused smirk.

Aria chuckled as they continued walking, "So few people are able to intimidate thugs so badly as to literally make them flee in terror with just a look. I may sort of be able to do that, but it's more due to my reputation."

"You give yourself too little credit Aria, and me too much. The scar is usually what makes the effect, not the expression." Shepard replied.

"I don't know; one thing I've learned about humans from you is that human eyes are very expressive." Aria said.

They had almost arrived, "Anto? You've been rather quiet." Shepard asked as she keyed in the unlock code.

"Have I? Truthfully I have something on my mind, Commandant."

"Well, speak up then. What do you want to know?" Shepard said in a friendly tone.

"I- uh… It'll keep." Anto decided against asking his question.

Aria raised her brow at Anto, who was looking a bit sheepish.

Shepard seemed to sense that it was a rather awkward topic. She decided to give him another chance, but then push no more, "You sure?" She looked at Anto. When he nodded and relaxed she said, "Alright. Bring it up when you're ready."

The door opened and Shepard limped into her room and began changing as Aria began explaining, "To put it simply, I have a certain sphere of influence. Just as Illium has its own sphere of influence. And the areas elsewhere in the Terminus always have various major Warlords and Dictators trying to assume control. They're all rival jackasses though and keep each other weak through constant attempts to dominate one another. Though everywhere in the Terminus isn't in a constant state of war and violent upheaval, there is always a war somewhere. That said, just outside my sphere of influence there are multiple little warlords and despots fighting each other for my scraps. Illium is more centralized in its control. And I admit, Patriarch didn't have this problem either. Of course he assures me he simply had dumb luck in this area. In truth it was a necessity for me to allow them to form their little holdings at the time. I had to be careful not to be picked off by Illium while I was weakened after taking over from Patriarch. But there use has long since ended, but I don't think it's worth the cost of a full military annexation and I have other things to focus on."

"So code three is one of those warlords showing up for a surprise visit?" Shepard asked as she stepped out of her room in her freshly polished armor; her pistol on her hip, her shotgun strapped to her lower back and her assault rifle over her shoulder.

"Yes, which means he wants my support for some stupid action against one of his major rivals." Aria turned around to start heading back, "Code Alpha Three specifically refers to the third most powerful in the most powerful grouping."

"How many are there?" Shepard asked.

"There are twenty-four total. Not including those two systems close to Council Space that constantly try to revolt and join the Terminus." Anto answered.

"Right, and Illium is constantly trying to turn them to their side, or at least keep them divided, which would make my operations extremely difficult." Aria said.

Shepard was lost in thought as an idea was forming in her mind. "You said groupings, what did you mean?"

Aria blinked, "Ah, well there are a few with a fair amount of power. To the point where if they united they could actually carve out something respectable for themselves, there are truthfully three in that group. Their rankings flip around enough that it's useless to assign a permanent ranking to them. The next group is still potent and would actually be a bit of a threat if they combined there are six in that group. After them, is another group that isn't anything to sneeze at but would really only be considered a problem if they picked a good ally to back them, they number five. After that we start getting to the small fries, seven of them. Finally the last group are really only one or two system groups, there's only three of them. Luckily for them, they've got some of the best military leaders of these warlords. It keeps them from being conquered." Aria ran down the list.

"And those two systems Anto mentioned?" Shepard asked.

"Ah, yes. To be honest I'm not sure the Council really cares about those two systems anymore. But they'd still be concerned if any of the warlords tried to annex them. They've got some good shipyards there, along with an unusual abundance of alcohol. A human agricultural expert once told me those planets had the perfect climate to grow wine grapes, just before he tried to introduce this plant to those planets. From what I understand he was successful beyond his dreams of avarice." Aria realized she had begun rambling, and glanced at Shepard to see if she had accidently bored her. But when she noted Shepard's expression she grew confused, "Shepard, why are you smiling?"

"I have the beginnings of an idea to solve this problem. But I'll talk to you about it after you deal with number three. And just deal with him how you normally would, alright?" Shepard said.

Aria nodded, but privately wondered what Shepard had up her sleeve.

Shepard was formally introduced, and she kept a polite smile on her face. As Aria began listening to the warlord's requests and proposals of alliance, Shepard began typing things into her Omni-tool.

Hours later, once the despot left Aria turned to Shepard, "At least he's polite. Some of these pricks are more arrogant than a wealthy politician with a god complex and a holier than thou attitude."

"Well, if you like my plan you may not have to deal with any of them, at least the ones you don't want to keep around." Shepard responded as she finished her last few keystrokes with a flourish.

"Listen, Shepard. There is no doubt you are doing much better, but I don't think you're ready to do any missions or operations. You even still have a bad limp." Aria began gently.

Shepard's eyes widened slightly, "Oh, thanks for reminding me!" She opened her Omni-tool and made a few more keystrokes.

"Now I'm confused. Did you even hear what I said?" Aria responded with her brows scrunched.

"Of course I did. I don't intend to be on the front lines for this plan. Actually for this plan, all I need is negotiating rights, command of your army and fleet, and a suit that isn't armor but looks official." Shepard said with a smile.

Aria's brows rose, "Oh? Is that all?"

Shepard blinked in mild confusion, then adopted a sheepish expression. She slowly said, "Errr… I meant temporary command, did I not say that?"

"No, but I figured you meant that. I'm somewhat messing with you. Alright, give me details and I'll consider it."

"Okay. For the first phase of this plan I need you to put me in contact with whichever warlords you think would immediately agree to be absorbed by you from any of the groups. The second and third stages requires some precise political and diplomatic machinations along with military action to absorb a few more, and eventually the rest. I suspect a few of these warlords might resent intrusions, and I have to be careful not to drive them to ally themselves with each other. Stage four involves humiliating Illium by making them try an attack and crushing them, likely set up in stage two and accomplished in conjunction with stage three. I have to make them think it was their idea so we look like the triumphant non aggressor. That will remove any influence they have."

"I see you think assuming direct control of Illium and their sphere would be a mistake." Aria interrupted.

"Of course I do. Absorbing these petty dictators, including their militaries and resources, is one thing. But if you try to annex Illium the Terminus would be united and present a problem for the Council to address. Better to have control of Illium from behind the scenes." Shepard said, unusually excited for her plan; much to the amusement of Aria.

"Was there anymore?" Aria asked in curiosity.

"Yes, the fifth and final stage. With this stage the intention is to send a message to Illium and Council Space, Aria's new united criminal empire will not be underestimated. Of course, to be honest this stage is the most risky and can be considered optional. Before I decide to tell you precisely what I intend I'd like to know a bit more about those two systems that don't want to be in Council Space anymore. Where are they, precisely? What is the nearest Council Species to them?" Shepard asked, leaning forward.

"Those two systems are right on the corner where Alliance Space gets close to Batarian Space, and is right where the Terminus begins. That said, technically those two systems are not Alliance colonies, but rather a metropolitan Council experiment that was partly successful. It's fairly evenly spread between Salarians, Humans, Asari, and Turians. The Batarians have had some designs on annexing those systems, but haven't acted on it." Aria answered, thinking she saw how Shepard's plan would come together.

"Excellent! Just a little shadowy manipulation of the Hegemony, and a declaration of protection backed by a flashy and easy show of military might in response to a sudden "unexpected" aggression and the plan is complete."

Aria leaned back in her seat with a smirk, "Alright, I think I like this plan. Now about this suit you asked for?"

"(Chuckle) My idea of an historical reference. I need a black, somewhat high collared undershirt for comfort and a stark white overcoat that buttons closed. Also, on the overcoat: small shoulder patches sewn on with Omega decorations to signify rank; a golden sash that will stretch from my right shoulder to my left hip, front and back and a smaller white sash that will rest in the center of the golden sash; and embroidery on the upright collar with your symbol as a clasp for the front of the collar. Also, I need white pants; really black boots, shiny if possible, and with a small heel; and white dress gloves. Here, I have a rough sketch; I'm afraid I'm not much of an artist so I also put a description down." Shepard sent over the information.

Aria glanced down to confirm she received it and said, "Well, that sounds fairly ornate. I'll see what I can do. Here let me send you my information on all of those warlords and those two extra systems." Aria tapped a few keys out on her Omni-tool and Shepard excused herself to study the information in comfort.

When she left Aria set the wheels in motion and then decided to see if she could find out what historical reference Shepard was going for. After a great deal of searching she came across an old oil painting from 1885 depicting the crowning of Emperor Wilhelm I of the brand new German Empire, funnily in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in France. Wilhelm was clearly not the most impressive man in the painting, despite the fact that he stood above the rest and everyone was facing him. No, the most impressive figure in the painting stood approximately center in a suit pretty much exactly as Shepard had described. With a little more searching she identified him as Otto von Bismarck, which led her to his role in the German unification. Aria smiled in amusement and closed down her search program and began moving things along a bit faster.

_A few days later_

Shepard, using her new walking staff, walked up to Aria's office and stood straight with one foot forward just a few inches, staff resting on the ground level with the back foot, free hand on her hip. "How do I look?"

Joker glanced up and did a double take, "Impressive, commanding, in charge…"

Aria continued for Joker, "Like a Chancellor."

A smile spread slowly across Shepard's face, "You researched it didn't you?"

Aria smiled back, "Such a resplendent suit deserved a little background. It was a good painting."

Joker looked confused for a few seconds, then gave up, shrugged and said, "Anything for me to do?"

"I'll need you as a helmsman soon enough. I've set up a careful set of diplomacy; manipulations; machinations; and simply put, extortion and blackmail. Organizing coups is tough work." Shepard answered with a small widening of her eyes for sardonic effect.

"I've got them all in the Patriarch's meeting room, Patriarch agreed to entertain." Aria said with a motion of her head in the right direction.

"Patriarch agreed to entertain? How much did you tell him?" Shepard asked.

"Every little bit, even some information on Bismarck and his policies. He was quite impressed by your idea, and the inspiration it came from. He said he might start adding some Earth history to his stories."

"I'll get things going then, what's the group ratio?" Shepard asked.

"One from the best three, the one you've already met in fact. Only one of six came from group two. Two of five came from group three. Two out of seven came from group four. All three of the little ones showed up, though." Aria answered.

"Good start. Just under half, actually that might help keep the rest from banding together until it's too late. I'll get down there right now." She turned and started heading down, "Joker, you are now the helmsman of my temporary flagship. Aria, could you please give him a few details?" She turned a corner and headed to Lower Afterlife.

Aria turned to Joker, "I don't use dreadnoughts; they're too slow. My operations need speed and maneuverability. So for a flagship, I'm giving Shepard my sleekest and quickest Turian cruiser: Vallum. I stole it from the Hierarchy and through a few well-placed bribes… well, they don't want it back."

"Isn't Vallum the capital of their colony on Taetrus?" Joker asked.

"Yes, though this ship was built to commemorate the "War on Taetrus" where they systematically wiped out a terrorist separatist group that sent a ship going at FTL speeds crashing into the heart of Vallum." Aria answered. She continued, "Have you flown a Turian ship? Aside from Saren's, of course." She smirked at her last sentence.

"No, I assume it handles about the same as anyone else's ship. Unless you are talking about crew discipline?" Joker answered after snorting in amusement at Aria's joke.

"Well controls are a bit different, as is ship layout. But you'll get the hang of it. Now, I've got things to do so I need to brief her aide-de-camp, Grizz. Anto will still be her primary bodyguard. Anyway, for her flagship to run efficiently she needs a disciplined crew, so I'm assigning a mix of Turians and Asari. If necessary, for the purpose of "marines" I've got a few dozen Krogan. She's pretty much chief diplomat, ambassador, general and admiral, for this self-proscribed task so don't be shocked at her work load. I'll be on call to help with the political machinations and manipulations she needs me to initiate from my end."

_Shepard_

Shepard continued down to Lower Afterlife at a quick limp. She had Aria make a few decorations or "medals" to have on the right side of the overcoat. Insignias for admiralty, generalship, commandant, and one more for diplomacy.

She heard Patriarch prepping the warlords with a story that would make them want to join Aria officially. Shepard smiled in amusement and picked her moment to enter. On her way down she checked specifically who arrived. Four of them were Asari, so she greeted, "Ladies and Gentlemen," CLAK (She loudly set the bottom of her walking staff down on the ground), "thank you for taking the time to come to this meeting. I'm sure you all know why I've asked you here. We must resolve our differences and unite under Aria, not just to survive, but to thrive and flourish! And you, dear Ladies and Gentlemen…" She swept the room with her eyes, catching all of their undivided attention, "You will have the honor, privilege, and prestige to be the first."

Shepard had previously established contact with one of the small leaders and prepped him to play the part of the "voice of dissent to be swayed to agree." The Turian named Severius spoke up, "But we have been flourishing as we are already."

"Ah, a fair point. Have you not been doing fairly well for a while now? Severius, correct?" At the nod Shepard continued, carefully wording everything due to the Batarian warlords in attendance "The way we have been going will not last forever. Such a fractured structure cannot stand against a unified force, be it the corporate oligarchy of Illium, the Batarian Hegemony's Autocratic and oppressive control, or even the Council's vain attempt to cover their control with the guise of benevolence. United we will all be doing far better than fairly well, and united we can stand against any and all of those others I just mentioned. Let alone anything or any_one_ else that thinks they can push us around!" Shepard ended with a flourish as the assembled delegates cheered and applauded her.

Severius smiled, "You know what? I say we make it official, right now."

Shepard smiled, having the one guy that previously voiced doubts want to be the first to sign was also an idea Shepard had, simple manipulation.

Once everyone signed the agreement Shepard poured a drink and raised it as some Asari waitresses began passing some around, "Now that business is done, to pleasure!" A raucous cheer rose up and the celebratory drinking began.

Patriarch walked up to Shepard and patted her on the back, "That was glorious! You had them eating out of the palm of your hands. And having one of them voice an argument for you to refute, a masterful touch. An excellent start! What was your next step?"

Shepard smiled, "A combination of stages two and basic set up for four. We need to prepare for Illium's attack on the warlords in stage three to look like we're riding to their rescue, then while they're grateful they sign the treaty. After that we crush some of the Hegemony's forces when they try to annex those two "Citadel" systems."

Patriarch laughed, "What an intricate, clever, and interwoven plan you've developed. I love it! I'll help Aria set Illium up to play the fool. I'll also lay the groundwork for the Hegemony to try some aggressive action."

Shepard took a drink of her drink, and then handed the rest to Patriarch, "I've got to inspect my temporary new flagship."

Patriarch glanced down at the drink and sniffed it, "Is this ryncol?"

Shepard said over her shoulder, "Yes it is. I only had a little bit."

Patriarch laughed, ryncol was tough to handle even for Krogans.

The party continued with Patriarch taking over as host.


	14. Chapter13:Manipulations and Machinations

Chapter 13 Manipulations and Machinations

Shepard sat down in the CIC. An Asari yeoman handed her a datapad, "Commandant."

"Thank you Shai'ras. Update me again in four hours, unless the situation changes." Shepard said.

Shai'ras saluted, "Ma'am." And walked away.

Shepard smirked when she overheard Shai'ras say to one of the comm officers, "She remembered my name!" After smirking she turned to the datapad.

The datapad reported that Aria was fully ready to trick Illium once the second stage was done. Shepard smiled. She was ready to begin the manipulation of the top warlord.

"Grizz, has Caedishus gotten our "leaked" information?" Shepard asked.

"Yes we have confirmation that he is mobilizing to annex all the smaller groups near him, against their will." Grizz answered from his seat next to Joker.

"Which leaves the last grouping closest to Illium, excellent. Are our forces positioned where I ordered?"

"Yes, they're all ready to strike out immediately."

"Which brings us to the waiting game. Joker, keep on standby."

"Aye aye, Shepard!" Joker responded as he began running diagnostics and holding the FTL at ready.

After two and a half hours the comm officer said, "We're being hailed by Severius, Commandant."

"Put him through." Shepard waved in acquiescence.

"Hail Chancellor. Good news, my friend and ally in the next zone is going to contact me just as soon as Caedishus gets greedy and jumpy. We'll have foreknowledge of just where to reposition if we need to before the official cry for help comes out. Plus, with the propulsion upgrades on our ships it'll be very easy to outmaneuver them once in position."

"Precisely. We can secure superior position within his own territory before he can even mobilize his forces. Shouldn't have to wait much longer, now."

A few hours later Severius called, "Shepard, they're on the move on our projected path."

"Alright, steady everyone. The time is fast approaching." She pushed a few buttons on her chair to open the ship intercom, "Krogan marines, get ready to storm the capital. We'll be good to go in a half hour or less, and with you plus air support the battle should be over in just a few hours."

"You got it, Shepard!" The Krogan leader replied.

"Try not to slaughter noncombatants; and if you can, capture the warlord alive; I want to humiliate him, not necessarily kill him. But aside from that, have fun!" Shepard warned.

"Well, alright. But only for you."

"Heh, thanks boys." Shepard closed the channel.

A half hour later exactly, the distress calls came pouring into the warlords from their people and militaries as they got blitzed. And they called for help from any allies. Finally Caedishus formally declared war on the budding Confederation. Shepard leaned back and said into the intercom and fleet channels, "All hands! All hands! Man your battle stations! This is not a drill. Squadrons prep fighters and interceptors and hold steady. Move out!"

Joker punched it, and the ship blinked into FTL.

Two minutes later Caedishus's capital planet was in sight. "Achieve orbit and drop the marines!" Shepard glanced at her battlefield map and noticed an ion cloud just to the side of the standard military lane. "I have an idea, position three frigates inside that ion cloud, and an interceptor just above the cloud. On a signal the interceptor will fly into the cloud and release a burst transmission. The sudden burst of static will signal the frigates to fire. Perfect ambush of Caedishus's reinforcements."

The crew smiled mischievously as they directed the Batarian style frigates into position, with an Asari interceptor as signal.

"The marines have landed; air support is clearing the way." Grizz reported.

"Good, give me a general channel." Shepard said.

"Channel open, ma'am." The Comm officer answered.

"This is Chancellor Shepard, to all warlords except Caedishus. Aria's Pirate Confederation is offering full membership and protection from any outside attacks; we will liberate you from Caedishus's forces freely either way, but remember if you do not join we will withdraw and leave you to your fate in the event of another attack."

As expected, the entire grouping called in with requests to join. Either out of gratitude or recognizing the changing times. Shepard smiled as her plan was coming together. She relaxed, because she placed Patriarch in control of incorporating the group into the Confederation. She closed the channel after confirming the requests to join and said, "Get me a visual channel to Caedishus's private bunker."

"Channel open, on the map screen, ma'am." Shepard nodded and stood up, straightening her overcoat and sash and setting her cane down to lean on.

"Ah, Chancellor. You reacted quickly to my declaration of war."

"Of course we did. As soon as your… victims called for help from members of Aria's Confederation we began mobilizing. We launched as soon as you declared war."

"In addition to being able to outfly my ships, how?"

Shepard smirked, "Why not? New and improved propulsion tech. Do you surrender?"

Caedishus glanced down at a datapad one of his aides handed him and sneered, "Your fragile alliance hasn't won yet." Then he made a motion with his hand to cut the transmission.

Shepard pushed a button to bring the maps back up, and just as she expected the FTL signatures for Caedishus's retreating forces showed up along the line to the side of the ion cloud. "Send the signal to the interceptor on my mark." She waited until the ships were a half a minute out of optimal alignment, "Mark!"

The message went out and twenty seconds later the interceptor reported back successful weapons launch. Ten seconds later the two lead vessels in Caedishus's armada brilliantly exploded from direct hits before they could pull their shields up. "Send a message to his head admiral, likely in that third vessel judging by the ID signature, asking for his surrender."

"Yes, Commandant." The Turian XO said with evident excitement in his voice.

A few seconds later the comm officer relayed the admiral's response, "He'd like to discuss terms."

Shepard smiled, "I'm sure he wants to be sure the men and women under his command won't be mistreated, put him through."

She waited for the nod from the comm officer, "This is Commandant Shepard."

"Straight to the top, I like this streamlined approach. My terms for my surrender are simple. I only have one: I do not want my men and women to be held as POWs or for any political reasons. In return I will surrender myself to your ship personally."

Shepard glanced at her crew to get a feel for how they wanted to play it before making her decision. They seemed accepting of the terms. Shepard spoke, "Terms granted." She motioned to her comm officer to give her a fleet channel, "All ships cease fire! Their admiral has surrendered." She motioned to cut the fleet channel and said to the admiral, "Your shuttle or mine?"

"Since I have a choice, mine."

"I give you thirty minutes to report a launch, admiral." Shepard sat back down in her command chair.

The admiral paused in evident surprise, and then with gratitude in his voice, "Thank you, Commandant."

Thirty minutes later the Krogan reported they had reached Caedishus's palace with no casualties, and were making their way to his bunker. On their request, Shepard recalled their air support.

The doors to the CIC opened and in walked the admiral flanked by Turian security from Shepard's ship. Shepard got up and gestured towards her briefing room just off the CIC, "Admiral Kyrikus, please step this way for debriefing."

"You know my name?" He said as he followed Shepard into the room.

"Of course. It would be disrespectful to not know one's opponent's name. And simply foolish to not know their capabilities." Shepard shut the door behind them.

"Well, what is it you want to know?" Kyrikus said as he took a seat.

Shepard sat down opposite him, "What was your position on Caedishus's attack?"

"I don't know if you'll believe me or not, but I was opposed from the start. His plan was short sighted, rash and failed to account for any backlash of any kind. In fact I suspect he played right into your hand." Kyrikus smirked the final sentence. "If I may ask, how were you able to adapt your ships' firing positions so easily?"

Shepard eyed him for a few seconds, smiled slightly, and got up. She walked over to a nearby counter and popped the cork on a bottle of fine Turian liquor, the admiral's favorite no less. As she began pouring a glass she said, "How well do you know Earth history?"

"I admit I brushed up when I heard about your budding alliances under Aria." He replied.

"More specifically does the term "Needle Gun" have any meaning to you?" She made her way over and handed him the glass.

"Yes, it was an innovation of Earth's gunpowder based weapons. One of the early models of bolt action rifles, which would be a vast improvement over muzzle loaded weapons. My Earth history is not as good as my knowledge of weapons, I confess I love weapons. You Humans have an… artistry in your weapons at times that other species tend to lack more often than not."

Shepard sat down with a very small drink of her own of Batarian ale given to her just after being wounded, given by Anto primarily, but also from Aria's other guards. She answered his question, "Well, certain improvements in sub-light propulsion I made to ships in my control, is my Needle Gun." She raised her glass in salute, which was returned and she took a small sip.

She set her glass down, but before she could say anything else, Kyrikus swallowed part of his drink and asked, "And those ships hidden in the ion cloud?"

Shepard laughed, "When I arrived in system I noticed it there, just off the projected military space lane. It was a quick, improvised ambush and quite the risk. I had an interceptor waiting for a signal just outside the cloud. Fifteen seconds for it to fly in and deliver it's burst of static, five seconds to launch weapons, ten seconds travel time."

His brows raised, "You thought of that on the fly? Impressive. (Sigh) What is to become of my men and I?"

"Your forces, and ships, will be integrated into the "Confederacy." Every one of the liberated warlords has already joined. What becomes of them after that is not my say. And as for you? I'm not sure yet, but I suspect I won't keep you in suspense for long." Shepard said. She got up and said, "Please excuse me, Admiral. I have a battle to finish."

"Of course." He seemed lost in thought.

"Help yourself to the Turian liquor." Shepard gestured in the direction of the bar. And she left him alone.

_CIC_

"Any reports?" She asked.

Yeoman Shai'ras spoke, "Krogan marines report that they are in the process of breaching the bunker, but that it's larger than they anticipated, more in line with yours and Patriarch's predictions." She had full military posture

Shepard smiled, "Thank you, Shai'ras. Relax." As Shepard stepped past her, she patted Shai'ras' shoulder. She glanced around the room at the smiling faces, "Be proud of the victory today, but remember: Illium's forces are next, that's the true test."

"Aye, aye Commandant." Was the dominant answer. As she knew would happen, their smiles strengthened as their resolve to impress their commander galvanized.

She smiled, "Grizz, Anto. Prep the Krogan's evac shuttles, and prep my shuttle to follow them down; and don't worry, you're both coming with me." She made her way to the map in preparation to accept Caedishus's unconditional surrender. she said to her flagship's XO as she stepped next to him, "Captain Kyrikus, thanks for the tactical advice on your brother. I suspect once the field reports come in, they'll back up your suggestion for what to do with him."

Captain Kyrikus smiled, "Thank you, Commandant. Could I speak to him?"

"Not yet. Wait until after my little surprise gift to Caedishus's previously conquered rivals, alright?" Shepard answered. At the look of minor confusion, Shepard decided to elaborate on her reasons, "I want the good admiral to act surprised and confused at my suggestion."

The Captain went, "Ah." And nodded his head.

A few minutes later the Krogan leader called on his own line in a successful capture. "Shepard! He surrendered like the coward you said he was, I'm surprised you want him alive at all."

"Well, you're right he's not really worth the trouble. And he's not going to survive very long, but don't tell him that."

"Oh I get it, a political kill. Make him useful in death as a symbol." The Krogan surmised.

"Something like that, yeah. Evac shuttles are on the way, I'll pick up our prisoner myself."

"Comm officer Alleina, transmit my order for the… newest members of the Confederacy to meet here. Let them know: "Caedishus is going to be in attendance, whether he wants to be or not." That'll get them here fast." Shepard said.

"Aye, aye." The Asari replied.

Yeoman Shai'ras stepped over to her friend, with a big smile, and said quietly, but not quietly enough, "She remembered your name, too!" She patted her friend's shoulder.

Shepard very quietly chuckled to herself and shook her head in amusement. She opened the intercom, "Grizz, launch the evac shuttles in five minutes; I'll be right down."

Shepard walked up to the helm, "Don't worry Joker, I'll be back in less than a half hour."

"I'm not too worried, you got Grizz and Anto backing you. Incidentally, I think those two Asari have a crush on you."

Shepard glanced down warningly at Joker, "Yeah, probably. Just, shush." She placed her index finger in front of her mouth.

"Right, gotcha. Playing it cool." Joker said with a silly grin.

Shepard smiled, despite trying to suppress it, "Shut up, Joker." And she walked towards the hangar bay. On the way she said to Captain Kyrikus, "You have the bridge, captain."

"Aye, Aye."

A half hour later Shepard was back on board with her prisoner. Two hours later the other warlords assembled in a large meeting room, set up like a court.

Shepard sat in the largest chair, with her cane in front of her leaning on her shoulder, on one end of the room; and the warlords took their seats in stands set along the walls and were slightly elevated.

Shepard motioned with one hand and Admiral Kyrikus was brought in in handcuffs and sat down to Shepard's left. Shepard opened her Omni-tool to use a voice amplification tool, "Announcing captain of my flagship, Captain Kyrikus."

Admiral Kyrikus's eyes widened and he looked up at Shepard. Shepard discreetly motioned for him to be quiet for now. The captain took his seat to Shepard's right.

Shepard continued, "Is anyone notable absent?" When no one said any warlords were not in attendance Shepard finished the thought, "Then we can begin. Bring Caedishus forward."

The warlord Caedishus was brought forward and shoved into the center of the room, in the light.

"Grand Praetorian Caedishus, you stand accused by your peers of…" That's as far as she got.

He interrupted, "I see no peers here. Just lessers, and one pretender. And I stand in chains. I demand to be released!"

Shepard cleared her throat and motioned at Admiral Kyrikus. Caedishus blinked a couple times, "No, you can keep him. He failed me."

Shepard barked out a short laugh, "On the contrary, you failed him." Deep breath in, "You stand accused of…" That's as far as she got again.

"Release me!" He shouted.

"You interrupt me one more time and I will personally shoot you in the foot!" Shepard relaxed her "angry" expression and continued, "You stand accused of the attempted theft of Sovereign territory, the unlawful deposition of Sovereign rulers, and the acts of unlawful espionage and conspiracy. You will be tried and sentenced by a jury of your peers… or I suppose, those of us already here anyway." Shepard ended smirking; this sentence was met with amused, if slightly muffled, laughter and scattered applause.

"…How will I defend myself?" He said with an angry scowl.

"Details of the case?" Shepard asked.

The warlord who was Severius's contact. Stood up and presented all the evidence in a carefully constructed manner.

When he was done, Shepard said, "Can you refute these charges?"

"I didn't do that. He did!" He pointed at his admiral.

Shepard looked to the admiral, "Admiral? Can you refute his attempt to use you as scapegoat?"

Admiral Kyrikus turned an angry glare on Caedishus; who was looking smug, if a little confused at Shepard's wording. "Yes. I have transcripts of his orders, and even my objections, and my attempts at disobedience right until he went around me, even that didn't help him. He tried appointing himself direct head of his military, but that didn't help. Finally he went behind my back, ordering the few captains actually fanatically loyal to him to initiate the attack. This forced me to move into those areas and try to assume control and bring about order to the chaos he caused."

Shepard nodded, "Captain Kyrikus, to my right has field reports that state the admiral performed even better than he claims. The fanatically loyal captains were mutinied on all but two ships, he regained some ground until he realized we could reposition our ships much faster. When Caedishus called for help from my _one_ cruiser, backed by two frigates that weren't even in the battle, he ordered a full "expanded" territory retreat to the home system to try and overwhelm us. It evidently failed, but that is a solid strategy by all means." Shepard smirked down at Caedishus.

Caedishus frantically searched his mind for something to say. He finally settled on something with an easy smile, "I…" That's as far as he got.

Shepard interrupted, "_I_ see, there is no evidence to the contrary, the court's jury will render judgment. And… if applicable… sentence." Shepard smiled knowingly, she knew exactly how this was going. She manipulated Caedishus into acting arrogant and like an asshole, and boy did he deliver. She manipulated him into accusing Kyrikus, whom she knew had irrefutable evidence to the contrary.

After barely half a second the same former warlord who presented the evidence stood up, "Unanimously guilty verdict, Chancellor."

"Sentence?" Shepard said, looking up at the Batarian.

"Execution." He said.

"Objection!" Caedishus yelled in panic.

"On what grounds?" Shepard asked.

"This is obviously a hung jury!" He shouted in desperation after twenty long seconds of frantic thought.

"Jury? Are you hung?" Shepard asked with a deadpan expression.

The Batarian answered, "Before the Admiral's testimony we thought it was possible he was guilty."

"There you see? They gave your accusation a fair examination." Shepard said in an exaggerated tone and a ridiculous smile.

"I refuse to submit!" He shouted angrily.

Shepard gave a snarky laugh, "(Heh heh heh heh), Well you see…" She dropped the smile and got forceful in tone as she stood up, cane in left hand, "You don't have to!"

Shepard's white uniform began glowing a bluish purple as her biotics were summoned up. With a slight, but emphatic, gesture of her right hand she sent a burst of controlled energy at Caedishus. His previously unbound hands and arms launched behind his back. Shepard clenched her right fist and Caedishus's hands slammed together, resounding loudly in the silent room, when they slammed together he winced in pain. Shepard dramatically slammed her right hand down, and the biotic energy flared up just a little brighter. Caedishus was forced to his knees with a shout of surprise and his eyes widened in a lot of pain. Shepard spoke without any sign of effort or strain, "Captain Kyrikus, unlock the admiral's cuffs."

"Aye, aye ma'am." He got up, stepped over to his brother and whispered, "You owe the Commandant for this, not me. I barely helped.

Admiral Kyrikus got up, rubbed his wrists and Shepard said to him as she relaxed her stance and posture, without letting up any pressure on Caedishus. The biotic glow faded as she sat back down and leaned back nonchalantly. She pulled her pistol and handed it to the admiral, "Would you like to perform the honors, admiral?"

"After that asshole's attempt to put me in front of his firing squad. Let alone everything else he's done. It'll be a pleasure to be his new firing squad." He took the pistol readied it, walked calmly over to Caedishus and aimed down at his head. Without any regard for last words he pulled the trigger.

Shepard dropped the biotic control and Admiral Kyrikus handed the pistol back to Shepard. She placed it back in her holster beneath the overcoat. "Get someone to clean up this mess."

The Batarian stepped back up just as he was supposed to, "What are we going to do about his territory?"

Another warlord, didn't matter which one, stood up, "I say we split it up."

Shepard smiled, "That would be a mistake. It would cause far too many problems. All we need is a replacement." She paused as Admiral Kyrikus sat back down. "And I don't think we need look any further than the admiral."

Admiral Kyrikus rapidly stood back up, stumbled slightly, but recovered. He shouted, "Wha- What?!"

"Look, I've got nothing against the admiral, but why don't we just split the man's territory?" That same warlord argued.

Shepard sighed, "In case you've forgotten this is a united Pirate Confederacy. His whole territory will join, all we need is a capable administrator. Admiral Kyrikus is honest, keeps to his word, honorable, smarter, more efficient, and his forces are loyal. Plus, according to reports, the civilians in this territory are loyal to him as well. Best of all, to him mostly, he doesn't have to give up his admiralty."

"But why shouldn't we just break up his territory into smaller manageable sections and give it out piece by piece to us?" Another warlord asked.

"And how would _your_ people react to such a thing?" Shepard asked back.

"Poorly." She admitted.

"Listen, we all profit from this territory joining the Pirate Confederacy, but none of us profit anymore from a fractured territory than from a solid one. It's simpler, cheaper, easier, and more efficient to simply assign a new administration. I say again, we need look no further than the admiral."

That finally convinced them and they "voted" to make it happen. Shepard turned to the admiral

and formally gave him his new office. After that she invited him and the captain to drink with her in her

briefing room.


	15. Chapter 14: Battle Plans

**Author's Note: This is a short set up for the next chapter, which is a lot longer.**

Chapter 14 Battle Plans

Shepard took a drink of her Batarian ale while the Kyrikus brothers poured another drink of their Quarian ale that Shepard had delivered on their request.

"So tell me Chancellor, this whole grand plan of yours, what's the next step?" Admiral Kyrikus asked.

"The group of eight that are currently under the influence of Illium are the last few. They are going to require… more complicated action. We've got support from the two smallest in that grouping, but the rest steadfastly oppose Aria's continued domination. They'd prefer to join Illium. I'm still working on it, but tentatively first I need to officially bring those two over to the Confederacy, place an advance force within their territory discreetly. Second I need to convince one, and only one of the other warlords, to sign a treaty of military assistance with Illium's Terminus forces attempting to take control of these warlords. The remaining warlords must be driven away from Illium politically. This is where I have to differ from my historical inspiration, just a bit." Shepard said.

"What do you mean?" Captain Kyrikus asked.

Shepard leaned back, "Historically my side would be aggressive against the various warlords, and I would have an ally on the other side of Illium to distract them. In my case, I need to manipulate Illium's one ally to get greedy, from behind the scenes. We'll come to the aid of the "neutral" warlords when they come under attack; when the fighting starts Illium will send their forces to back their ally. From there we need to, more than defeat them, humiliate them. But also show some measure of mercy, which will make us appear more benevolent than Illium; let alone militarily superior. If our victory is solid enough and our mercy blatant enough, Illium might forgo rebuilding their Terminus military in exchange for a non-aggression pact."

"What about their protection?" Captain Kyrikus asked.

Admiral Kyrikus answered, "They'll probably stick with hiring the mercenary groups, mostly Eclipse I'll bet. And also the occasional Asari patrol, it is still their colony. Even if it is mostly autonomous and sticks it's nose in Terminus territory all the time."

Joker came in over the intercom, "What's our destination, Shepard?"

"Set course to return to Omega, we need to check in with Aria."

"ETA forty minutes." Joker responded.

"We'll get you back to your new administration in a few hours. Though I may need you in on my plans." Shepard said to Admiral Kyrikus with a smirk.

"I still can't believe you got me into that position." He chuckled.

Shepard smiled deviously, "Those warlords are so shallow. A little mention of profit here, a little mention of avoiding chaos there, and they'll agree with anything you say as though they're the ones who thought of it."

"I'll bare that in mind." The admiral said sardonically.

"You probably won't have to for long. I'm advising Aria to phase them out slowly, but all at the same time. In a couple of years any sense of independence in the militaries or the civilians will have faded. All due to myself and Patriarch reorganizing the military structure into a cohesive centralized unit; a General Staff, if you will. And I suspect you'll simply be put back in position as an admiral by then. Aria has stated she wants to keep around the ones that are useful, just in a lesser position. The Turian Severius, his Batarian friend Forleck, yourself, and perhaps someone from this last grouping."

"Severius?" Captain Kyrikus asked.

"Of course. He's been very useful at making "arguments" against my plans. Forleck as well, at least to a slightly lesser extent." Shepard said, smile widening.

The Kyrikus brothers mirrored Shepard's devious smile.

Forty minutes later Shepard was making her way up to Aria's office, Patriarch just behind her. Aria spoke without looking up from her Omni-tool, "Ah, Chancellor. Joker's transmission leads me to believe that you need to make a few preparations before I push Illium over the edge?"

Shepard answered, "Yes. I need to convince one of the warlords in the middle of the group of them to strike up an official alliance with Illium, and then drive the rest away from Illium and their new "ally." I'll manipulate that warlord into getting greedy enough to initiate his or her own attempt to annex the rest of their rivals, to bring them over to Illium's side. This will cause Illium to send backup. I'll break our military force into three separate fleets to fly in and converge from three directions; I'd like you to command the largest."

At this Aria did look up, "What do you have in mind, exactly?"

"Well, Illium's forces outnumber ours significantly. They have some "illegal" dreadnoughts, which translates into superior range, but not necessarily firepower. But we're not without our own advantages. For instance: with our sub-light propulsion systems, we can reposition our ships faster. I suggest we find a way to increase our vessels' fire rate as a counter to their range. We'll hold their forces for most of the day with carefully chosen battlefields and superior positioning, and they'll collapse when you arrive, immediately doubling our numbers and providing a huge shock of firepower."

"Superior positioning?" Aria asked.

"According to my maps and celestial weather reports, there is a fair sized and mildly dense nebula cloud inside a particular warlord's territory. It's been known to scramble incoming, but not outgoing, sensor signals and completely obscure visuals. That will be _my_ forward position. I will be a part of that first fleet, and I want Admiral Kyrikus in command of that one. With his brother, Captain Kyrikus, under his command; he'd make a good commodore in charge of a division."

Aria blinked a couple times and Shepard said, "I may be a decent logistician and a fairly good tactician, but I am no master at it. Admiral Kyrikus is a fantastic commander, who can hold the line and keep our forces alive."

"Who's getting the second fleet?" Patriarch asked.

"I was thinking you. Whoever's in charge of the second fleet is going to have the smallest force, but they are going to be the most aggressive. Systematically liberating the various other warlords, pushing dipshit's forces back, along with any backing Illium forces. Once they are liberated, I need you to reinforce my forward position, I suspect by then they'll have gotten a bit desperate at pushing my division out of the nebula."

Patriarch glanced at Aria. She thought it over for a few seconds, and then nodded. She then turned back to Shepard, "Where will the three fleets be initially positioned?"

"We have two allies within that group of eight. Kyrikus's fleet will start first from within our allies' territory and secure the forward position, and Patriarch's fleet will move out just after that and move around the main warlord's territory to all the other warlords' territories. I suspect the fighting will begin approximately 0730 hours; Patriarch's forces will combine with Kyrikus's at just after 1100 hours; and Aria's forces, beginning from Omega, will arrive at the battle approximately 1430 hours."

Aria asked for details to be sent to both herself and Patriarch, and to have the Kyrikus brothers join them in the planning sessions. Shepard sent the message, four minutes later the brothers showed up.

Details of the plans were ironed out and fleets carefully chosen and positioned over the next few days. Shepard carefully and indirectly manipulated her chosen warlord while Aria pushed, from the shadows and several layers of intermediaries, Illium's military leaders to try an alliance with one of the warlords while Shepard covered the tracks. Just to be sure Shepard also quietly discredited Illium with the rest of the warlords.


	16. Chapter 15: The War of Crescent-Omega

**Author's Note: This is a long one.**

Chapter 15 The War of Crescent-Omega

Shepard leaned back in her seat, "Commodore Kyrikus, good luck."

"Commandant, you'll need it more than I will… It's been an honor ma'am." He replied over the fleet channel.

"No, the honor is mine, commodore. And may the honor continue long after today's battle." Shepard replied. She then added with a reference towards the Turian religion, "Spirits that was corny."

She could practically see the Kyrikus brothers smiling in amusement. She thought back to the preparations she had made in conjunction with Aria and Patriarch, including the upgrades and optimization of their entire fleet's weapons. Aria even upgraded the maneuvering jets, for precise adjustments. Shepard equipped her division with an expensive point defense system as well. Just two days ago Illium launched their forces to reinforce and guard their ally's home territory. The warlord secured her new territory and reinforced her positions, unsure how to approach the two warlords that remained publically neutral, even though they secretly allied with Aria under Shepard's authority. But then just an hour ago she tried to attack, and it failed miserably. The Kyrikus brothers signed off and Shepard switched channels, "Patriarch, are your forces prepared?"

"Ready to go, it feels great to be heading an attack in a full scale battle again! We'll be there to push them back in time, don't fret." Patriarch answered, his voice clearly excited.

"Aria, are the preparations underway?"

"Their dreadnoughts won't stand a chance when we suddenly appear along their flank." Aria answered. A half second passed and then Aria shouted, "And what the hell are you doing lieutenant? Get your pretty little ass back to work! We need to finish those upgrades."

Shepard laughed, "Spoken like a true Pirate Queen."

"(short chuckle) Watch yourself, Shepard."

"I will, Aria. See you in about five hours."

Admiral Kyrikus began the countdown to launch.

/\

Admiral Ialleia reclined in her chair staring out her command dreadnought's viewport, the Tasale. "Captain, what are the reports of the enemy fleets?"

Captain Ludainya looked over from her standing position to the left of the admiral, "According to reports, their admiral has split their force, already far less numerous than us, into two unequal parts. Our intelligence is uncertain as to how they will be deployed. As of 0630 this morning, Supreme Vizier Sederis broke the armistice and launched an attempt to take one of the two warlords that hadn't publically declared their loyalty to Aria's Confederacy."

The admiral nodded, "And I take it that it failed?"

The captain sighed, "Spectacularly. The warlord under attack had signed a protection pact with the Confederacy, as well as the other supposed neutral warlord. Sederis's forces were forced into retreat within minutes. I suspect we'll be in for a battle any minute now."

"Well, we'll take it slow. How much do we outnumber them?" The admiral asked.

"In simple ship numbers, counting the Supreme Vizier's forces, a little over three to one. However our intelligence states that they have no dreadnoughts or carriers."

"Then we need not take foolish risks. We'll keep our casualty list minimal." The admiral said as she leaned forward to look at something that caught her eye in the distance. "Are the sensors picking anything up?"

The officer in charge of coordinating sensors spoke up, "Ma'am I'm getting a mess of signatures on the long range scanners. I suspect they've launched their fleets."

The captain checked the signatures against her intelligence reports, "Correction, lieutenant. They've launched one of their fleets. The larger of the two."

For several long minutes neither fleet made a move against the other. Admiral Ialleia ordered a warning shot to be fired, knowing they were out of effective range. After the volley fizzled out with very minor impacts on a few of their ships, several ships of the Confederacy's fleet began moving out.

Admiral Ialleia watched as four cruisers and six frigates of mixed origin broke from the enemy line and moved forward. She shook her head in confusion, "They're attacking in waves? All dreadnoughts target the ships and fire a concentrated volley, we'll break the wave before it gets in range."

Her massive dreadnoughts opened fire almost immediately upon the order, the sheer number of shots fired presented what seemed like a wall for those ships to fly into. However this first volley assumed the nimbler and smaller ships would adjust their course so they'd avoid the majority of the damage. When they didn't adjust, the first volley went wide.

The admiral commented with a hint of admiration, "Whomever is in charge of this first advance prepared their men and women well. Tighten the aim and fire again."

This second volley had much less distance to travel, but there was still enough time to adjust course. This time the ships did adjust course, but made no move to readjust back to the original flight path. The volley went wide again.

"Damn! They've gotten to the halfway point for the cruiser's optimal range. Well, they can't switch targets in time again. Fire!" The admiral sat down in front of her tactical screen and watched with a slight bout of nervousness and confusion. "What the hell is the rest of their fleet doing?"

"Ma'am! I'm getting reports from our auxiliary contacts in Sederis's forces, as well as our own captains with them." Captain Ludainya began.

"Well, report?" She kept one eye on the advancing ships.

"It seems their second fleet is pushing our forces and Sederis's back in the newly conquered territories." The captain reported.

Admiral Ialleia's eye brow rose, "So this force is to hold us here? Warn the auxiliaries about the second fleet. That'll remove the element of surprise, and issue a standing order to have any routed forces retreat here."

"Aye, aye ma'am. The second fleet has already liberated two out the five conquered territories, though." The captain said with slight worry in her voice.

"Whoever is in charge of that fleet must have wanted to make full use of the element of surprise while they had it. They'll move slower now." The admiral reassured. She turned back to the encroaching ships. There was still a mere five seconds until the volley struck the ships. "Have they given up? They haven't tried to avoid the volley."

To the admiral's utter shock the ships passed _through the volley_ just a little out of position from before. The admiral shot forward in her seat, "Are those ships real?! Am I imagining them?"

"No, ma'am." The captain whispered in just as much confusion.

"Order another volley."

The dreadnoughts fired again.

The admiral looked down and viewed a playback of the feat she just saw. After several viewings of those five to six seconds she came up with a theory, "Captain? Is it possible they've upgraded their maneuvering jets?"

The captain checked her intelligence reports. "I suppose their ships could have any number of unusual upgrades, and I doubt some of the upgrades are uniform across the fleet. It's possible these are the only ships with maneuvering jet upgrades.

Admiral Ialleia's eyes widened and her face paled as a thought struck her. "Sensors, scan their approaching ships! Do you detect any significant radiation?"

"What do you suspect ma'am?" The captain asked as she became concerned over the admiral's expression.

"I suspect they may have loaded a massive amount of nuclear weaponry onto those ships and are trying to ram it down our throats before detonation!" The admiral answered, somewhat tersely. She continued, "Sensors?!"

"Ma'am something's interfering with our scans." The answer came.

The admiral glanced down at her tactical screen and returned it from the recording to the current feeds. Her brow scrunched as she saw the enemy ships and her third volley were still fairly far apart on screen, but between them was a blank area with no tactical information. She pressed another button and brought up the star chart for the system. Finally she noted the presence of the nebula. "It's alright lieutenant, wait until they pass through that nebula. That's what's scrambling our sensors."

"Aye, aye."

She switched back to the tactical feed and watched. That's when she realized the ships and missiles would meet in the center of the nebula. She smiled in relief, "Finally a tactical misjudgment. When those missiles enter the nebula the holes between them will become unpredictable."

The captain relaxed at those words and the bridge crew sighed collectively.

/\

"Steady… Steady…" Shepard said as she leaned forward in her seat in the CIC of The Vallum. She checked her tactical feeds of the missiles one more time before they entered the nebula. "Alert me when we can detect the volley of shots, we can adjust the sensors to the correct frequency when the volley is dealt with."

Her weapon officers prepared the medium range countermeasures. Sixty seconds later Shepard was notified that the Vallum's sensors could detect the volley. After several tense minutes Shepard gave the order, "Fire the point defense systems!"

Small missiles arced out from the Vallum and her allied ships; they flew straight at the dreadnought volley, detonating both opposing payloads. Shepard breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled at her crew, "Alright. The hard part is over, now the next hardest part. The quiet waiting game. If anyone needs to, now is the time to visit the lavatory or… relieve stress. I was briefed on how Turians do that on high stress missions." Her smile dropped into a sympathetic expression, "I apologize to the sensor officers, I need you to remain and tune the sensors."

When most of the crew shuffled off the bridge for a couple hours Shepard stood up and glanced around. She noticed a couple extra faces than she asked for, "Yeoman Shai'ras, Comm officer Alleina? What are you two still doing here?" Shepard asked politely.

They glanced at each other, "We uh… We were worried about you and wanted to stay on the bridge with you." Shai'ras said, clearly a little embarrassed.

Comm officer Alleina hastily added in her own embarrassment, "Uh, if that's alright, ma'am."

Shepard smiled in a mix of amusement and appreciation, "Relax you two, it's fine. And you both can call me Shepard." She glanced toward the helm, "Excuse me ladies."

She left the two Asari giggling and whispering to themselves as they each went to an empty sensor console to help out with the sensor operators who went to the restroom.

Shepard stepped toward the helm where Joker, Grizz, and Anto were seated. "One word, Joker. One word and I swear…"

"Oh, you'll what?" Joker responded with a smirk

"…I don't know." Shepard said after a couple seconds before her serious expression broke into a smile and a small laugh.

Grizz and Anto both laughed in amusement as well.

After a couple seconds, Joker asked, "So what's going on out there?"

Shepard glanced out the viewport at the colorful nebula surrounding them, "Well, as we held their admiral's attention, Admiral Kyrikus slowly repositioned Fleet One to intercept and capture retreating forces, and to launch a multipronged assault on the enemy line to bait them into moving their cruisers, and if we're lucky a dreadnought, into our range in a counter assault. At that point our forward position will be revealed, and they won't be able to launch volleys from the dreadnoughts for fear of hitting their own forces. And even if they do, we have contingencies. As it stands now, they think that last volley succeeded due to the size of the explosion."

"What about the Patriarch's fleet?" Grizz asked.

"By now he'll be on his way to the third outlying warlord's territory."

"And the bulk of our fleet?" Anto asked.

"Aria will be awaiting the best time to bolster Kyrikus's fleet and provide a sudden shock of firepower that Illium's Terminus fleet won't be prepared for."

"So we can't really do anything or even know anything until the sensors are correctly tuned?" Joker asked.

"Yes, but once they are tuned we'll be able to see the whole battle area. I tested this out on a strikingly similar nebula cloud before we began positioning fleets." Shepard said.

"Then we should help the sensor operators." Grizz said to Anto.

"I hope things are going well out there." Joker said quietly.

/\

"We've seized ninety-five percent of the retreating forces, sir!" An aide reported to Admiral Kyrikus.

"The marines are done already?" Admiral Kyrikus asked, impressed.

"They said it was even easier than "Cowardly Caedishus's citadel." Sir." The aide reported.

"Ha! They would say that. Excellent, begin the crew transfers. And remember to treat the captured crews with dignity and respect. When the transfers are complete integrate the captured ships into our center line and flanks."

"Aye, aye!" The aide turned to leave, when he decided to ask the question on his mind, "Sir? If I may ask a tactical question?"

"Speak your mind." The admiral said.

"Why not try to sneak their ships over to them with our crews and open fire when they're in range?" The aide asked.

"The Chancellor and I considered that possibility, but we felt that that would cause too little damage before the ships were destroyed and the captured ships would be more useful strengthening our lines." In truth it was his idea to capture the routed forces, but he did discuss it with Shepard and Aria. They both agreed immediately.

The aide nodded satisfied, and began carrying out orders. The admiral opened his fleet channel, "Commodore Kyrikus, you may proceed. Senior Captain Severius and Senior Captain Forleck, coordinate with the Commodore and begin your assaults as well. We cannot delay any longer."

"Acknowledged, Admiral." Came all three responses.

Admiral Kyrikus opened his tactical display and began studying it for a weak point to hammer down on.

/\

"We FTL to this point here, then FTL here and finally here. Then we launch in system and flank them from behind." Patriarch laid out his plan to his second in command while leaning over a star chart of the system in question on board his flagship Korbal. Which is a Krogan word roughly translating to "victory or death."

"But sir, if we circle them like that they'll just flee before we do much damage." The Batarian XO stated.

"I already told you that's what I want! Kyrikus is using marines to seize the ships before they can rendezvous with the Illium Terminus Fleet. Plus I assume he's shrouding the sensor signatures and blocking enemy communication. Besides, we need to move fast. Once we, humph, "liberate" the fifth territory we need to reinforce Commandant Shepard's forces. She's holding a forward position with just a few cruisers and frigates against dreadnoughts, cruisers and frigates; relying on a single well timed surprise attack and a sensor scrambling nebula to keep from being targeted by the long range dreadnoughts."

"Is she crazy?" The Batarian asked.

"No, just has a quad!" Patriarch responded smiling in bemusement.

They launched into FTL and barely a half hour later the enemy ships were in full retreat.

"Alright we need to move on to territory four." Patriarch said as he began looking at the maps of said territory.

/\

The Tasale bridge crew watched as three equal forces dispatched from the enemy fleet moving towards them, "Now this is what I thought they'd do. Though, I admit, it's more coordinated than I anticipated. A three pronged assault is a bold move." Admiral Ialleia said.

"Orders, ma'am?" Captain Ludainya asked.

The admiral thought for a few seconds, "Order dreadnought volleys when they are in range. If they're still coming, bring the frigates and cruisers forward. We outnumber them, if necessary we can use our dreadnoughts as shields if our ships get too damaged. And where are the auxiliaries?"

"We got the initial reports, sent out the warning, then nothing. I don't think the second fleet had much going for it beyond surprise." Captain Ludainya said.

Admiral Ialleia responded, "Perhaps you're right. Still, I'd like our long range sensors to rescan their fleet."

"That'll take a few minutes ma'am, they've reorganized their positions and spread out into overlapping fields of fire." The lieutenant said.

"Smart move by their admiral if he's just trying to hold us back. His three spearheads is probably his attempt to keep us on our toes. By all means take as long as you need." The admiral responded.

The dreadnought volleys were more dispersed with three targets spread way out. The admiral slammed her fist down when the first two volleys failed, "Damn! These ships have upgraded maneuvering jets as well."

"They seem to be moving fast as well." The captain noted. "I didn't notice when it was just the one group."

Admiral Ialleia looked at her tactical logistics officer, "Commander Sulaerius?"

"Well Admiral, give me just a minute." Thirty seconds later Commander Sulaerius whistled low. And she said, "Preliminarily I can say that their ships are at least fifty to seventy-five percent faster than factory fresh. _At least_. I can be more accurate with more time to crunch the numbers."

"Not necessary at this time, Commander. I suspect they'll get within firing range, despite our best efforts. Prepare to analyze their rate of fire, and how much power is in their punch."

"Yes, admiral." The commander set about preparing for a rapid analysis.

Two minutes later Admiral Ialleia ordered, "Begin moving the frigates and cruisers up, and prepare for ship to ship combat and possibly line of fire or broadsides."

Three minutes later the battle was joined. It didn't go well for Illium's forces.

"Commander?" The admiral asked, her voice somewhat terse.

"Nearly 100% increase in rate of fire, and with their frigates' increased speed… their frigates' strafing runs are devastating our ships. And their cruisers reposition too fast for ours to keep up." The Commander reported, nearly in awe at the level and speed the ships were upgraded.

"We're getting nowhere defensively. We should press the attack on their fleet, use our superior numbers." Captain Ludainya suggested.

"Agreed Captain, but first we need to repel this assault on all three fronts." The admiral said from her seat, gesturing vaguely with the arm that had her elbow on the arm of the chair.

A half hour later they had made no progress, "We're not making any headway, in fact we've lost ten cruisers and twenty frigates. They've lost maybe one or two of each."

"I know… open fire with the dreadnoughts." Admiral Ialleia ordered with a frustrated grunt.

"Aye, aye."

The dreadnoughts opened fire and caught a couple enemy frigates, but failed to get most of them. They were waiting for the dreadnoughts to open fire on the melee of ships in front of them. They jumped to Faster Than Light speed to get out of the line of fire.

"Damn it! We did more damage to ourselves with that volley. At nearly every turn they're besting us. Sensors, results of the rescan?"

"Ma'am, their fleet is shrouding the sensor signatures, we can't get an accurate read."

The admiral glanced over with her thumb and pointer finger on her chin, "Shrouding the sensor signatures? Are they blocking communications as well?"

"Most likely, ma'am." Captain Ludainya.

The admiral scrunched her brow, but she decided to order her assault, "Send in one dreadnought with the cruisers and frigates, perhaps that will keep a portion of their fleet pinned down. Divide and conquer."

The captain smiled in agreement, she thought that that might be just what they need to win.

Of course it would take quite a while to position the dreadnought for optimal firing.

As the ships slowly flew into position, cruisers and frigates surrounding the dreadnought, Admiral Ialleia began watching the tactical screen with an unidentifiable sinking feeling in her gut. She had warned Illium's high command that it would be a mistake to commit the entire fleet to this operation. Unfortunately she wasn't listened to. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the dreadnought made its way forward. As a precaution it had its kinetic barriers set at double front. It passed the halfway mark and was moving forward just a bit more…

/\

Shepard watched her sensor board on The Vallum carefully. When the unshielded section of the dreadnought was exposed she gave the order to her ships, "All ships target the engine nacelles and fire with everything we've got! And don't stop until I say so."

The Vallum shuddered as it fired, reloaded and fired again in the time it would take a standard ship to fire once. In just three seconds the Vallum shuddered again, more violently as it was hit by the shockwave of the explosion taking out the dreadnought's massive engines and some of the hull as well. Shepard new what would happen next, "All hands! Brace for shockwave!"

First the primary guns overloaded and blew, but then the big explosion came when the power fluctuations caused the mass effect core to overload and detonate. All that was left was a debris field.

A few cruisers and frigates in Illium's forces were also caught in the blast. Shepard glanced at her board, "Retarget and fire at will. The battle has now officially begun!" Shepard ordered.

/\

Admiral Ialleia shot straight up from her seat. "By the Goddess! They were hiding in the nebula the entire time! How? Didn't we destroy them?"

"Our sensor boards registered a large explosion. Perhaps they had point defense systems?" Captain Ludainya blankly stated a hypothesis as she stared out the viewport in shock.

"Inordinately expensive, but not uncommon. A brilliant tactic, but how could they have timed their attack?"

"I don't know, ma'am."

"Let's focus on the battle, and puzzle this out later. Can we target the nebula and fire?"

"Not without severely damaging our own forces. Their admiral has moved the fray in front of the nebula from his perspective."

"Damn. Order more of our cruisers and frigates into the nebula, we'll push them out."

/\

"Ha-ha!" Admiral Kyrikus cheered when he saw the dreadnought explode. "I told you all that the Commandant made it just fine."

His aide; all smiles; asked, "Orders, sir?"

"Manipulate the fray and move the ships directly in front of the nebula to discourage them from trying to shoot at it with their dreadnoughts." He paused, "And recall Commodore Kyrikus's forces to press their flanks." Shepard's bombardments were keeping several enemy ships busy, but that won't last when they launch their own cruisers and frigates into the nebula.

"Aye, aye sir!"

Captain Ludainya turned to the admiral with a look of shock. Admiral Ialleia sat back down and the captain said, "We're getting reports from our captains in the fray up there. It seems their admiral has been intercepting the fleeing forces from the conquered territories and using marines to seize them."

"Which tells me he brought additional crews. And they must be blocking communications. We have no way of knowing how many areas have been taken back." Admiral Ialleia thought for a second, "Dispatch a frigate to each area for reconnaissance, then have them return and join the fight against the division in the nebula. And once their nebula forces are engaged in battle send in two of the four carriers we have here and have them scramble everything they have."

"Aye, aye!"

/\

The Korbal shook under fire. Patriarch shouted his new target orders, "Fire at the cruiser! And have our frigates redirect into a screen formation."

His new orders worked, the shaking lessened. A frigate to the left of his ship exploded, but the enemy frigate that did it only had one direction to get out of the way of the debris in time and flew straight into a counter missile from another friendly frigate. Finally the remaining enemy crews backed off and began retreating. Patriarch checked the time, "Alright I'm giving us thirty minutes to lick our wounds. The last group will be the toughest, they have a carrier stationed there. We really need to capture that one ourselves. All the extra pilots are with us."

"Patriarch? You called me up?" The Krogan marine asked.

"I finally have a job for your men!"

"At last I can shoot something!"

"Specifically I need to you and your forces to capture a carrier."

"Ooh. A challenge!" The marine responded.

"Here's the pl-" Patriarch began.

"Patriarch, sir!" His Batarian XO interrupted.

"(Small growl) What? What is so damn important?"

"Sir, an Illium frigate has just entered the system." He reported.

Patriarch's brow raised and his expression turned thoughtful as he muttered, "Must be a scout…" He glanced at the marine commander in front of him and an idea struck him, "New plan! Interdict that frigate, Captain. We're capturing that one first."

Twenty minutes later the Krogan marine reported success. When he asked what to do with the crew, Patriarch contacted the warlord in charge of this area and she agreed to look after the prisoners. Ten minutes after that Patriarch put a small crew and as many pilots and marines as he could onto the frigate and gave the captain position to an Asari.

"You know the plan, Captain Jarral?"

"Yes, Patriarch. I tell them we're here to deliver orders because the enemy fleet is blocking communications. I'm going to say that you are still engaged in battle here, I'll explain I was ordered to give the instructions in person and have no intention of disobeying. Once the frigate is docked in their largest hangar bay the marines and other forces will launch their attack. About ten minutes in, your fleet will fly in and attack their forces." Captain Jarral responded.

"Then launch. We have little time to lose." Patriarch said.

"For the glory of the Commandant!"

"Yah!" Patriarch slammed his right fist into his left palm. A Krogan move that showed excitement for a coming battle and respect for one's allies and adversaries.

Captain Jarral cut the transmission. A few seconds later her frigate jumped to FTL.

/\

Shepard allowed her weapons officers and allied ship captains to pick the targets while she watched her tactical screen intently for any sign of the enemy fleet sending forces to drive her out of the nebula. The obscuring cloud allowed her to fire out with her tuned sensors, but the enemy couldn't fire in with any hope of accuracy. Finally she saw what she had been expecting. "All ships prepare to realign! We're about to have a fight on our hands."

The enemy ships were close to approaching maximum range for Shepard's ships to shoot so she gave the order. Thirty seconds later her ships were exacting a heavy toll on the enemy charge.

About half the original charge entered the nebula. The fight was short and pointless for Illium's ships. Shepard wasn't pushed anywhere. "Well, the first charge went well. They're going to get desperate soon, though." Shepard leaned back, and allowed her ships to resume bombardment on the fray outside.

/\

Patriarch ordered his fleet in. "Keep their ships busy and trust our marines!"

The attack was evidently shocking to Sederis's and Illium's forces. They broke their formation and began backing up to reform. Apparently Captain Jarral was more convincing than Patriarch thought she would be, and he had complete faith in her already. "Press the attack, don't let them get line of fire!" Patriarch ordered.

A half hour passed and this force was obliterated. Patriarch opened his comm channel, "Captain Jarral, report?"

"We've secured the hangar bays and life support, but we're having trouble seizing the bridge. The enemy captain is trying to delay us, enemy reinforcements have forced my men to dig in." She reported, in between the sounds of gunfire.

"Are you in the front lines?"

"Yes, sir! I ordered everyone to battle when the enemy sent shuttles in."

"Bold call, I like it. Stand by for reinforcements, we need to move fast. I'll try to get their captain to surrender." Patriarch closed the channel and motioned to his XO to make it happen. Then he mumbled, "Just hold on Shepard, we're on our way. And the marines will definitely be on standby."

/\

Admiral Kyrikus made a few adjustments to his fleet's positioning. "Patriarch must be close to done. That was the fourth group of ships."

"Sir, you wanted me to inform you about their frigates they sent off?" His aide started.

"And?"

"Four out of five have returned, and no change otherwise."

"Well, gee. I wonder what happened to the fifth one?" Admiral Kyrikus said with sarcasm.

The aide smiled as he answered, "Yes, sir." He turned to leave.

Something on his tactical screens caught the admiral's eyes, "Hold it. Order a scramble of all fighters and interceptors. They're sending in a couple carriers. Tell them to pick and choose their targets, we don't have the numbers to make it in an attrition battle."

The aide saluted and began carrying out the orders.

Kyrikus looked down at his tactical screen and sighed in worry. The number of ships being sent into the nebula is almost excessive. "Just hold on, Shepard. We're almost there."

/\

"Do we have any word from the fourth frigate?" Admiral Ialleia asked.

"No ma'am. The fifth frigate reported an all-quiet. While frigates one through three reported total losses from our side. Perhaps the fourth frigate jumped into the middle of a battle?" Captain Ludainya answered.

"Damn it. Order the frigates that returned into the nebula."

"Aye, aye."

Admiral Ialleia watched the number of her forces slowly shrink as the enemy's number stayed relatively constant. "This admiral is on the ball, he's already scrambled his fighters and interceptors." She said to herself.

"Ma'am, word from Supreme Vizier Sederis. She's launched her personal flagship and home force. She awaits your suggestion as to how best to use her forces."

"Send them to the nebula, we can't let them keep that position." The admiral barely thought it over.

"She acknowledges and is on her way. ETA seven minutes."

/\

"Begin backing up, we need more room to maneuver!" Shepard called into her comm channel. This was answered by acknowledgments. She glanced down at her tactical display and noted the carrier approaching, "And begin scrambling fighters and interceptors, incoming carrier."

Comm officer Alleina was pulling extra duty on a sensor station, "Shepard, I'm getting signatures from the direction of the main planet in system."

"Thanks Alleina, it seems the Supreme Vizier has decided to step in. Well, let's see what she's got. Shai'ras," the yeoman jumped to attention, "make sure the boarding shuttle is prepped. Aria wants Sederis alive."

Joker called back, "Kinetic barriers at seventy percent. Allied ships report slightly less damage." He reported. He added as banter, "The party's getting a little heated."

"Yeah, Joker. The local cops are coming to break the party up since the MPs decided to join the fun." Shepard bantered back.

"Oh, goody. I've always wondered what a Vizier was." Joker ended the banter.

Most of the bridge crew smiled or smirked in amusement, some even suppressed a chuckle.

A few minutes later the battle was joined and Shepard's forces fought in a slow retreat due to Sederis's forces flanking them.

After a half an hour of fighting they hit the edge of the nebula. "This is where we make our stand. All ships, hold the line."

Ten to fifteen minutes later all Illium's ships and several of Sederis's forces inside the nebula began failing and blowing up.

"Looks like we cut it a little fine, there Shepard." The message came over the private channel.

"Patriarch! Well, you came in the nick of time. But I still had a few tricks up my sleeve." Shepard responded.

"Ha! I'll bet. Have your fighters target Sederis's flagship's main guns. I'll begin sending marines in. And have Grizz get that shuttle over, I haven't got one." Patriarch's jovial voice boomed over the speakers.

Shepard relayed the orders and called Shai'ras back to the bridge, sending Grizz to finish up for her and launch when ready. She got up and walked to the helm. Joker smiled up at her, "We did it! Hey, you're not limping."

"Well, it has been a month since… well you know." She shuddered, but pulled herself under control again, "But we haven't won just yet." Shepard checked the time, "Aria won't arrive for at least another three and a half hours."

"Well, what now?"

"Once we've captured Sederis we resume bombardment on the fray Kyrikus is still in while Patriarch guards our back from any more forces. Although if necessary, we can exit the nebula now."

"So now we just hold out for a little while longer?"

"Yep."

/\

"What the hell is that carrier doing here? I didn't order it to return here."

"Ma'am it's not responding to our hails." The comm and sensor lieutenant reported.

"Anything else show up unannounced?" The admiral asked in irritation.

"Uh, Captain Ludainya?" The lieutenant asked.

The captain stepped over to the comm station and looked at the mess of text and code on the screen and glanced down at her intelligence reports. "Admiral, the enemy fleet has just been bolstered by the appearance of their secondary fleet." The captain looked more closely at a few lines of text and code. She continued, "And I know what happened to the fourth frigate."

"You think they used it to ferry a boarding party to the carrier?"

"Yes, ma'am. And it's scrambling fighters."

"Goddess damn it! Order in another carrier, and more cruisers and frigates."

"Yes ma'am."

"We'll bleed them if we have to." The admiral stated.

/\

Admiral Kyrikus kept his forces mobile to avoid direct fire. He was cautious, but not overly so. "Patriarch, move that carrier to the left flank; there's less fire there. We don't want to lose that carrier." He made a motion to his sensor officers who were also performing part of the sensor shroud and comm block. He continued with his conversation, "How's the Commandant?"

"Her ships are fine. She could've held out for a while longer. It's my pleasure to guard them, though. That's the highest stress job we had."

"I still have some more crew, Captain Jarral sounds like she deserves her own command more permanently." Kyrikus stated.

"Definitely. She's the reason we won the fifth territory so quickly and easily. She could have a cruiser." Patriarch replied happily.

"Well, watch your own back too. We've got a long way to go." Kyrikus said.

"Do you think they'll surrender?" Patriarch asked.

"No, but they will get more desperate as the day wears on. Especially when news of Sederis's capture goes through. Remember, this is our only stand. We can't let them win." Kyrikus analyzed.

Patriarch responded, "I know."

The admiral cut the channel and smiled while chuckling slyly. The countdown was down to two hours.

/\

"Admiral, intercepted transmission!" Commander Sulaerius reported.

"Let's hear it, commander." The admiral stated.

"KSkkkskk… How's the Commandant?" A voice they didn't quite understand said.

"Her ships are fine. She could've held out for a while longer. It's my pleasure to guard them, though. That's the highest stress job we had." Another voice responded.

"I still have some more crew, Captain Jarral sounds like she deserves her own command more permanently." The first voice said.

"Definitely. She's the reason we won the fifth territory so quickly and easily. She could have a cruiser." The second voice explained.

"Well, watch your own back too. We've got a long way to go." The first voice warned with a weary tone and resignation clearly in his voice.

"Do you think they'll surrender?" The second voice sounded distinctly worried.

"No, but they will get more desperate as the day wears on. Especially when news of Sederis's capture goes through. Remember, this is our only stand. We can't let them win." The first voice said again with a heavy sigh.

"I know, admiral." The second voice said with mild irritation.

"My, my. Their admiral sounds exhausted." Captain Ludainya commented.

"Indeed. And it seems we've caught Aria's top field agent, the infamous Commandant. Not much else is known about her, though." Admiral Ialleia commented.

"She must be in command of the nebula group." The lieutenant said.

"Did none of you here that they captured Supreme Vizier Sederis alive? They've got some bargaining power now." Commander Sulaerius noted.

"Ah, but so will we, commander. Once we "liberate" her." The admiral responded. "Redouble our efforts, victory is close."

/\

An hour and a half passed and Patriarch smiled at the underhanded improvisation that Admiral Kyrikus came up with. "Yeah, the admiral was right. They think we've committed an all or nothing gambit already. They can falsely sense victory, even if costly." Patriarch commented.

Shepard made a pleased noise over the comm channel from within the nebula, "I'm glad I recommended him. It's a brilliant ploy. They'll be caught even more flat-footed then before. Let me know if you need anything from my forces. My frigates are getting antsy."

"Sure, you could send them out. I've made good use of the fighters and interceptors." Patriarch replied.

"They're on their way." Shepard reported before cutting the transmission.

Patriarch led the frigates out of the nebula.

/\

"They're holding steady, but it's only a matter of time, admiral." Captain Ludainya said with a small smile.

"We've almost got them. I've got to say their conduct and strategies have been brilliant, unorthodox and impeccable. If we can get them alive, I'm sure the debrief would be spectacular!" Admiral Ialleia stated with a smile.

That's when the comm shroud dropped and all ships' comms in the battle-space crackled to life. "Attention Confederate ships! Attention Confederate ships! The cavalry is riding to the rescue! So to speak. And attention Illium Terminus Fleet, I'm coming for you!"

Admiral Ialleia's face went slack, "Oh no…"

And just like that Aria's fleet exited FTL and immediately began firing. Utterly crippling a lot of the cruisers and frigates they hadn't sent into battle, and severely damaging several dreadnoughts.

"Orders admiral?" Captain Ludainya asked. Her tone was almost stricken.

The admiral's expression said it all. Her features were downcast, and she sighed deeply. "Captain Ludainya, I relinquish command. Transfer me as a prisoner for your safe travel back to Illium. I suspect their Chancellor will allow it."

"…Ma'am? I can't let-" Captain Ludainya began.

"Consider it my last order, captain." Admiral Ialleia said more forcefully, head snapping up and gaze intensifying.

Captain Ludainya's jaw clenched. She whirled around to face Commander Sulaerius, "Transmit a request for a conference with their major commanders. And order a ceasefire." She spoke more tersely than ever, through clenched teeth.

Commander Sulaerius turned to the comm board and pressed a few keys. Admiral Ialleia calmly spoke to Commander Sulaerius, "And please put them on screen."

A few minutes later Sulaerius said very quietly, "On screen ma'am."

Aria appeared first, then Patriarch, and then Kyrikus. Then Admiral Ialleia noticed her tactical screen beeping. A signature was appearing out of the dead zone of the nebula. And then the last figure appeared on screen. A human figure dressed in an impeccable white overcoat with perfectly straight shoulder patches, and a brilliant gold sash, with a smaller white sash over it. In addition to an embellished high collar and clasp, there were also four medals denoting extremely high military ranking on the right breast. Members of the bridge crew hid their looks of shock at the look of the human's face and scar.

"I am Admiral Ialleia; and no offense intended, but I only recognize Aria, Patriarch, and I can only assume that this human is the Commandant." She spoke with a steady voice, but the expression on her face told that she was pained.

"Admiral, I have the pleasure of introducing you to the mastermind of our battle plan, Commandant Shepard. And the man who held her plan together with his calm leadership, Admiral Kyrikus." Aria politely introduced them.

"May I negotiate my terms with the Chancellor? I would ask to be put through to him, or is it her?" Admiral Ialleia decided to get to the point.

"Speaking." Shepard responded.

"Oh. Mastermind of a great many more things than a stunningly successful battle plan, then." The admiral said in surprise. "I expected a different uniform, to be honest."

"Forgive me for not wearing my combat armor. It's not really conducive to commanding fleet ships. It tends to squeak when you turn to give an order or ask for a report." Some laughter was heard over the intercom and Shepard, while smiling, held her hands up to quiet her crew.

"I see…" Ialleia was unsure how to proceed from there.

"Your terms?" Shepard asked politely.

"I would ask you allow my forces to depart and return to Illium, in return I surrender myself to you as a prisoner." Ialleia got right to the point.

"While I have no qualms with your personnel returning freely to Illium, I cannot allow you to depart with the dreadnoughts."

"I don't understand." Ialleia responded in confusion.

"Then allow me to explain. Illium is an Asari colony; though it tries to exert its influence on the Terminus both directly with force, and obliquely with money and politics. Mostly money. In addition, Illium itself enjoys a fairly high level of autonomy, not being bound by most Council restrictions. And of course if any colony has the means it is allowed to construct a fleet for its own defense. But it still belongs to the Asari, which are bound by the Treaty of Farixen. Your dreadnoughts push the Asari over the limit based on how many the Turians have built. I know due to the fact that Illium belongs to the Asari, the Council will send a mediator to the negotiating table for the final armistice. Such proof as captured dreadnoughts would give my side an advantage in negotiations, and in regard to your terms, I may be able to work out a compromise with my associates and Aria."

"I await further transmission." The admiral responded in proper protocol. The transmission cut, but the line to Shepard's ship, now IDed as The Vallum, remained open.

"I think she's right. Illium had no right to construct these dreadnoughts in the corporate shipyards. Especially in secret under the guise of building carriers." Captain Ludainya paused, "And if the Commandant really is even half as good as the reputation she's built as Chancellor in secret suggests, she has all the proof she needs to bury Illium."

Admiral Ialleia sighed, "But she won't do that unless it serves her goal, instead she'll only reveal just enough to get what she wants out of the negotiations and no more. The galaxy has rarely seen this kind of guile in someone who isn't a cold hearted dictator or even a benign ruler."

"Or a leader at all. As Chancellor she isn't head of state in any way. Aria is." Commander Sulaerius added.

Just then Shepard reestablished connection, "As a compromise for the dreadnoughts we will return all captured crews and some captured ships to provide transport for you back to Illium. Do we have a deal?"

"That… is far more generous than we expected, Chancellor. Or Commandant?"

"Commandant is fine. Just one thing, we are keeping Supreme Vizier Sederis; at least for now."

The admiral glanced at her crew one more time, then stepped closer to the screen, "Agreed. I will fly a shuttle over to your ship when the crew transfers begin."

"I look forward to the debrief. Commandant out."


	17. Chapter 16: Armistice Pt 1

Chapter 16 Armistice part 1

"So you asked for me to bring that bottle of Asari liqueur you bought when we first met, because?" Aria asked as she handed over the bottle.

"It's Admiral Ialleia's favorite. I still have Kyrikus's favorite Turian liquor and Batarian Ale for us. I assume you sent Patriarch and the "liberated" warlords back to Omega to set the final stages of restructuring and reorganizing in motion?"

"Yes. Would you like to know who's being sent as intermediary by the Council?" Aria teased.

"Please. I need to plan ahead." Shepard said in all seriousness.

"It's no fun if you don't realize I'm teasing you." Aria teased again.

Shepard smiled up at Aria in amusement. And Aria chuckled and continued, "Matriarch Benezia is primary mediator, she is being assisted by Matriarch Lidanya. And a Spectre for their security. I'm not sure which Spectre but I have a guess."

"Who?"

"Saren Arterius. He has a close association of some sort with Matriarch Benezia." Aria answered.

"Alright then. I don't think Saren will be too much of an issue. I don't think he cares about this conflict. It might be someone else."

"I don't think Saren cares either. He's got his own plans and agenda. We still haven't decrypted his navigation charts. In fact my best hackers and decryption techs still want me to give them several extra years. I've already given them four. So, I suppose it could be another Spectre." Aria said.

"How far along are the crew transfers?"

"Done, now they're preparing to depart. Their Captain Ludainya is pleasantly surprised at how well the captured crews were treated. Admiral Kyrikus is outside the room now, waiting for us."

"Let's get in there." Shepard responded as they rounded the last corner.

Admiral Kyrikus nodded as he opened the door for them. Shepard greeted, "Admiral Ialleia, a pleasure to meet you in person. Care for a drink?"

"Sure. I could really use one, what do you have?" She answered from her seat, glancing up.

Shepard biotically lifted a glass over to her hand and turned to say, "Admiral Kyrikus, help yourself to the Turian liquor. You know where it is. Aria, I'll get your drink once I take care of our guest." She revealed the bottle in her hand and gently poured some into the glass. She handed it to the admiral, who had a look between surprise, a sardonic grin, and simple happiness. "I'm given to understand this is your favorite." Shepard then stepped over to the rest of the bottles and poured Batarian ale for herself and Aria. Aria took her seat and Shepard took hers. Kyrikus had already taken his. Shepard spoke, "Shall we begin?"

"Yes. Admiral Ialleia, what is your first question?" Kyrikus smiled in amusement at her confusion.

"I- What?"

"Well, we already knew you and your fleets were where they were going to be and your approximate forces. Your tactics were solid but unimaginative and somewhat overcautious. The Vizier needs to cool down before I'll let her in this room, so I'll allow a question from you, then we'll ask one, and we'll trade back and forth until we have nothing else to ask." Aria explained.

Shepard spoke up, "I for one am curious what you'll ask." She was prepared to learn what she could by the questions asked, as well as the questions answered.

"Hmmm… Very well. How did you survive the entrance into the nebula?" She asked Shepard.

"Point defense systems, precisely timed so there would be no visible or scan-able debris outside the nebula. It was a dangerous gamble, but paid off brilliantly." Shepard smiled the last sentence as she took a small drink.

"Dangerous how?" At the little glance she got from Aria she added, "I'll take two questions." Aria nodded at Shepard.

"Well, I knew from previous field tests in a similar nebula that I could tune the sensors to the point where I could simply use it as an amplifier and see the whole battle-space. But, my point defense systems had to be fired at the most precise moment as they were short to midrange missiles. The explosion of all four dreadnought's volleys blowing, combined with the explosives packed in the point defense system missiles was going to be large enough to detect through the interference, enough to convince you of our destruction. From there it was a race to tune the sensors correctly to eliminate as much interference and static as possible, if I was too slow I wouldn't have had the time to align for the dreadnought. But that was the smallest danger; I have a dammed good crew. And then, once I was revealed, Kyrikus had to put just enough pressure on the caught out ships to keep them in the line of fire, without forcing them back. That forced you to commit ships to force me out of the forward firing position, and allowed me to fire on your ships without being fired back upon effectively."

Kyrikus interrupted, "I have the calculations and field reports, Shepard's forward ships disabled or destroyed nearly as many ships as you lost to my ships. Aria bagged more though, disabling all your reserve ships."

"Oh, come on. Really? I think that might be an exaggeration, Kyrikus." Shepard said with incredulity.

"I understand the skepticism, and it is a bit vague. And I know, you were a little busy to count. The actual numbers do show I got more, and Patriarch also got more. But you had the smallest force by far. And put in a ratio, for every ship you destroyed I got three. Considering I destroyed nearly three hundred cruisers and frigates…"

Admiral Ialleia inserted, "And you have the only dreadnought kill."

"I can't wait to inform my crew." Shepard said with a proud smile.

"Now I have a question for you, Ialleia. What went through your mind when you got word of the Vizier's aggressive action backfiring?" Kyrikus asked.

"I was for the alliance, but I was steadfastly against committing the fleet to backing the Vizier. I felt it would only end in a disaster. And damn it all if I wasn't vindicated in the end. But as for her attack on your ally at 0630 this morning, I wasn't angry. I felt… resigned to accept the coming battle. I was sort of expecting Sederis to get too greedy for her own good." She paused as she took a drink and savored the taste, "When I said I was for the alliance, I actually wanted an alliance with one of the other warlords. I wasn't sure how Sederis was picked."

"You answered your own question." Shepard said.

"What? You mean how Sederis was… Oh, how did I not see that! Her sister is Jona Sederis, the founder of Eclipse! She must have pushed her name forward. A lot of corporations use Eclipse to supplement their security. It wouldn't take much more than a vague and veiled threat to leverage a vast number of corporations into putting that name forward. I expect there will be a little backlash against Eclipse now."

"Oh, yes. I'm certain of it." Aria said. Shepard hid her smile by drinking some of her Batarian ale. When she set all this up she knew the best way to cover her tracks in Illium was through the blaming of Eclipse. She even planted evidence in the personal communications of some minor and inconsequential, but known to be ambitious, Eclipse captains. Making it look as though they were trying to curry favor with their boss. She also knew Aria was still a little pissed at Eclipse for Wasea's attack, even if Eclipse didn't actually send her.

Commodore Kyrikus opened the door and looked to Aria, "Sorry to interrupt the debrief, ma'am, but all of the Illium military forces have arrived safely at Illium. Illium itself calls for an armistice negotiation, with Council mediators. They formally request the presence of Aria T'loak on Illium."

"Tell them I am bringing one advisor to the table." Aria responded.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And Commodore, don't call me ma'am. Aria will be acceptable."

"Very well, Aria."

Admiral Ialleia gave a short laugh, "Good call. You'd be a fool to go to the negotiations without your Commandant, or I mean Chancellor."

Aria smirked as she took a drink, "Normally I would be angry at such a tone. But actually, I agree."

The talk turned informal and stretched on until Shepard and Aria made their way to Illium to be in on the set up of the negotiation rules. Admiral Kyrikus was to transport the captured admiral and Sederis upon official commencement of negotiations, along with the captured dreadnoughts as evidence.

An hour and a half after Shepard and Aria arrived at Illium the Matriarch's arrived with the Spectre Nihlus Kyrik, a fairly well decorated Spectre, junior to Saren but nearly as effective. And they all gathered at a large Illium building.

"The briefing was incomplete, we were only furnished with Illium's side. And it was full of holes." Benezia began.

Captain Ludainya pushed her way forward in the Illium group. "You know what? I can't go along with this anymore. I don't care if they drum me out of my career. Illium's report to you is full of shit. There is no delicate way to put how badly it is full of it."

Matriarch Lidanya turned to her superior, Benezia, "Perhaps we should have Aria's second give us the Confederacy's side, and then hear Ludainya's testimony."

"I wouldn't mind hearing about the battle. I've heard some interesting rumors about the tactics used." Nihlus interjected.

"Then you should hear mine first, and then listen to the Commandant." Ludainya said.

"Very well, follow us." Benezia said as she led the way to an interview room.

Once both testimonies had been given and tested as truth Nihlus voiced his opinion, "The unorthodox tactics of the Confederacy helped, but what won the war for them was clearly the ship upgrades. It's no wonder Aria put that Human in charge."

"Moving on, I think we can begin the negotiations tomorrow. Everything is set up. As the offended party, Aria will be allowed to open the negotiations." Benezia stated.

The next day negotiations began as Admiral Kyrikus made his delivery of the dreadnoughts, the captured Admiral Ialleia, and Supreme Vizier Sederis. Aria motioned to Shepard, "My Chancellor will speak for me and the Confederacy."

Shepard stood, leaned on her staff in her left hand, and spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen, honorable mediators, it pains me to begin with criminal accusations but this must be brought to light. Illium illegally constructed five dreadnoughts, putting the Asari in violation of the Treaty of Farixen. As proof I captured four of the five and have delivered them here for inspection, if you deem it necessary. The fifth was lost in the course of the battle."

"That's a lie! We had carriers; it would not be difficult to frame us by placing giant guns on a carrier." The Illium representative spoke.

Shepard kept her expression neutral, "I call for testimony from Illium's chosen field commander, Admiral Ialleia; as well as Captain Ludainya."

When they both stated that there were five dreadnoughts in addition to four carriers the Illium representative asked for Vizier Sederis to be brought forward. She bitterly spoke, "Yes, Illium sent me dreadnoughts, for all the good it did."

Nihlus was smirking; he could tell that Shepard was toying with Illium's delegates with the testimonies of those three witnesses. It was clear to him; one reason for the mercy shown to Illium's forces was to win over the enemy commanders to see things objectively rather than through the eyes of a defeated leader. A grand ploy designed to discredit Illium's negotiators before any actual negotiations really started.

It was working; Benezia turned a baleful glare on Illium's delegates. Before she could speak though, the doors burst open and Eclipse stepped into the room armed to the teeth. Jona Sederis stepped to the front of her group, "Where is my sister?!"

Sederis answered from her seat, unhurt and unbound, "I'm right here, Jona. The Chancellor of the Confederacy treated me quite well. I really don't blame her for taking me alive. First, I attacked her; second…" She paused.

Shepard finished, still standing, head turned to face Jona Sederis, "Who would want you as a personal enemy?"

"I can think of many idiots. But, I suppose you aren't one of them. What's going to happen to my sister?" She said as she held her hand up, palm out, to her troops.

As the troops lowered their weapons, Matriarchs Benezia and Lidanya both glanced at each other, unsure how to respond. Shepard glanced to Nihlus with a raised eyebrow as an expression and a slight gesture at Jona Sederis. Nihlus shrugged in response. Shepard turned to Jona Sederis fully, "I would like to invite you to sit in on the negotiations, as my personal guest."

Jona Sederis's brows rose in surprise, but after a brief internal debate she dismissed her crew with a gesture and said, "I accept the invitation, Chancellor." Sederis was brought a seat next to her sister and Shepard finished speaking, reminding the whole group about the dreadnoughts, in case Jona's interruption pushed it out of their minds.

As she turned to sit down, Shepard winked at Aria discreetly to show she had been expecting Jona Sederis to interrupt everything over her sister.

The negotiations started off with Aria's very simple demands voiced by Shepard, "Illium must withdraw any and all attempts to influence our people. And do not start any more attempts. We do not want any territorial gains from Crescent Nebula, nor do we require reparations."

"These demands are exceedingly reasonable." Lidanya muttered to Benezia.

"I wonder how Illium's representatives are going to respond." Benezia muttered back.

They didn't have to wait long. The Illium representative shot up from his seat, "Illium has demands of her own!"

Aria leaned back and Shepard said, "Well?"

"We demand the return of every prisoner taken."

Captain Ludainya spoke, "They have already taken care of that."

"Our ships…"

"I'm afraid we cannot allow that demand for these negotiations." Matriarch Benezia stated. "Specifically, in light of the issue with the illegal dreadnoughts."

"Then we demand the extradition of Commandant Shepard, to be tried as a war criminal!"

"On what grounds?" Shepard said as she leaned forward, eyes steeled on the Illium delegate. Her expression was calm, but not unconcerned. A carefully chosen mask.

All eyes were on Shepard as the Illium delegate spoke, "Your show trial and execution of the sovereign ruler Grand Praetorian Caedishus is well known. What you don't know is…"

"Is that you and Caedishus were technically military allies, and you signed multiple mutual alliance pacts in passable secrecy, I know." Shepard nodded as she leaned back. The Illium negotiator blinked in evident shock.

"Execution of Caedishus?" Benezia asked.

"When Caedishus refused to sign into the Confederacy I wasn't going to coerce him. But then he attacked his neighbors, who also had yet to sign on. We offered military assistance to the attacked warlords, in gratitude they signed onto the Confederacy. Caedishus refused to surrender even when his top admiral surrendered his entire fleet. So I sent in marines to capture him. By the time they breached his innermost bunker he surrendered. I decided to try him by jury of his peers, the neighbors he attacked. When brought forward he arrogantly claimed he saw no peers in front of him, just lessers and a pretender." She bowed dramatically in her seat at the word pretender. She continued, "When one of the nonjury members presented the case, I asked him if he could refute the charges. He attempted to frame his admiral, which backfired when said admiral provided transcripts and hard evidence that Caedishus tried to circumvent his admiral; he eventually succeeded and started his conquests. His peers found him guilty, he became loud and resistant. I used biotics to restrain him and his admiral pulled the trigger when I offered him the chance." Shepard explained.

"Are you certain you want to make this demand? Even if it was a show trial, you don't seem to have enough of a case to convict."

"And perhaps you'd rather not dredge these subjects up…" Shepard said in a cryptic manner.

"Uh… I… uh…" The Illium negotiator looked to her advisors for any clue as to what Shepard was speaking about. They looked up and whispered frantically.

"Demand withdrawn." She sat down and bit the tip of her thumb in frustration.

A few seconds passed and Benezia cleared her throat, "Any further counter demands?"

The Illium negotiator looked up, removed her thumb from her face and said, "No further demands… at this time, ma'am."

"Then I suppose we can call this a da-" Benezia was interrupted by the sound of three of the four walls detonating.

Shepard was on her feet immediately, shielding Aria. She gave Aria a look that said that this wasn't part of the plan. Nihlus jumped in to cover the Matriarchs. Shepard was summoning her biotics when a shot rang out hitting Nihlus in the shoulder, knocking him from his feet and spreading dark blue blood across the table, and onto the Matriarch's faces. The round also hit his gun, breaking it. Shepard launched her biotics and erected a massive barrier covering all people as well as an exit tunnel, having dropped her cane she showed a little strain as she held the barrier solid with both hands outstretched. "Get out of here! Now!"

"Shepard, come on!" Aria said, trying to inch Shepard back.

"Go! I'll catch up." She assured. Aria stayed still for a few seconds, looking at Shepard. When Shepard transferred over all the levo based Medi-gel, as a show of saying, "I won't need it;" Aria finally nodded and made her way out, grabbing the cane as she passed it by.

Jona Sederis grunted in anger, "Where the hell are my mercenaries! Useless oblivious fools!" She guided her shell shocked sister through the exit, throwing Shepard a glance of respect before ducking through.

Shepard looked to the Matriarchs as they were attempting to knock the assassination squad members off their feet with their own biotics. "Matriarchs Benezia and Lidanya! Get moving, I'll keep them at bay. Go, go, go."

The sound of bullets striking the barrier didn't let up, on the contrary, it intensified. Shepard began gritting her teeth and clenching her jaw and arm muscles.

"Members of Illium's delegation! What the hell are you still doing here? Get out of here, it's not safe."

"You don't say?" The negotiator remarked snidely, but Shepard could hear the fear in her voice.

"Ialleia, Ludainya! Drag Nihlus over here, then get yourselves out of here." They did so, wishing Shepard luck as they made their exit.

Shepard sniffed a couple times, then swore. "Polonium round. Good thing I have premium dextro Medi-gel. Radiation poisoning is not easy to treat.

Shepard withdrew her arms slowly inward, towards her chest. As she did so, the barrier closed in on her and Nihlus. She crossed her arms in an "X" shape in front of her chest, bringing the barrier in extremely close. And then with a shout of effort she shot the barrier outward, launching her arms forward. The barrier shot with enough force to knock the assassination squad off their feet, and even four of them off the edges of the high rise buildings. Shepard scanned the falling men and women, and found one that had an assault rifle. She held her hand out, palm up and fingers splayed. Her biotics flared out again and the gun flew from the falling Asari's grip and straight into Shepard's open hand. She then opened fire on the assassins just recovering that hadn't noticed she was now armed.

As she laid down suppressing fire, killing at least two more. She pulled her pistol from its holster with her left hand and fired a few times with that gun as well. She used her biotics to uproot the negotiating table. As she was firing the guns she began to sweat from the effort of ripping the floor apart trying to get the table up. It would have been hard enough if she could concentrate on it, but she was also firing an assault rifle one-handed and a pistol in her other hand.

Finally the table wrenched free and Shepard laid it on its side and ducked beneath its cover. From there she put the guns down, and pulled the damaged section of Nihlus's armor off. For now she simply applied Medi-gel to the wound. That would ease the pain and minimize further poison and radiation damage.

Shepard tried to wake Nihlus up, but it wasn't working. She reached for her assault rifle when a dull whine began to sound. "Fuck! A gunship!" The assault rifle would be damn near useless. She looked around desperately for a chunk of building that would do some damage if thrown at a gunship, but she had no luck. Then a thought struck her.

She glanced up and noted the direction the gunship was flying from, she only had a few seconds. She opened the assault rifle up and began jamming the automatic cool down function, and then disabled the automatic lockups in the event of an overheat. She didn't have time for delicacy, she merely ripped out the component. So intent was she, she hadn't noticed Nihlus groaning awake.

She then glanced up, firing at the gunship one handed as she replaced the pistol in her holster with the other hand, watching for the pilot's favorite evasive maneuvers. When the gun began overheating in her hand she fired several more shots until the gun's mass accelerator began emitting a high pitched whine. She then stood straight up, tossed the gun straight up, then charged her biotics, launching the rifle to the left of the gunship. Just as Shepard thought, the pilot swerved left, thinking it was aimed directly at her. The gun impacted the windshield viewport, creating a small web of cracks. But then the mass accelerator detonated with just enough force to shatter the windshield. The pilot was clearly shocked as the Turian flew straight without dodging for a crucial three seconds. Shepard pulled her pistol and fired. But she was just a hair too slow, the shot missed as the pilot recovered and swiped right, the shot impacted on the metal panel just next to the windshield frame. Shepard fired again, but the round was just a couple inches from a headshot, leaving a hole in the pilot's chair. But Shepard's third shot was fast enough; the bullet was a direct shot in the head. The gunship reared up as the pilot was forced back into the chair by the force of the round, and her iron grip on the controls pulled back, kicking dust into Shepard's face so she put her left arm up to shield her eyes. As the inertia of the move faded the pilot lolled forward, causing the gunship to crash intact on a nearby roof.

Nihlus had heard all of it, but was too weak to comment as he slipped back into unconsciousness. Shepard dragged Nihlus back into the escape path while firing her pistol to keep the assassins from getting a bead on her or Nihlus.

Once in the escape tunnel, Shepard used some more biotics to collapse the entryway in a massive amount of rubble.

She then picked up Nihlus and made her way out of the tunnel, knowing all the delegates and mediators were safely away. When she shifted Nihlus's weight to her left arm she cried out, "Ah!" She nearly dropped Nihlus, but eased him down. She checked her arm and noted a slowly spreading bloodstain on the white sleeve. She grumbled more in annoyance than pain, "It is a good thing laundry innovations allow this bloodstain to be cleaned. I like my suit."

She carefully lifted Nihlus and carried him out of the tunnel. She checked her maps of Illium, and realizing that she was close to the shopping mezzanine where Aria sent her before, she moved as fast as she dared to the bar she had initially skipped over. Joker told her about it, though. At this time of day, the Eternity Bar would probably be closing for last call soon.

On the way she realized she underestimated her pain level, as the arm began throbbing. A half hour later Shepard was at the entrance to the bar. The music was loud, but that was no indication of how busy the place was. She opened the door and glanced inside. When she saw that only a couple patrons were there, and preparing to leave, she breathed a sigh of relief. She let the door close and picked up Nihlus, she squared herself for a bit of an entrance.

The door opened at an insistent pound from Shepard. She spoke to the patrons, "Today is your lucky day because I'm paying your tab. Get out."

One look at the stark white uniform, the growing and dripping red patch on the left arm, and the unconscious Turian in fancy armor and they picked up and left extremely fast. The barkeep Aethyta spoke up, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing? Actually, first tell me who the hell you are?"

"Aethyta, right? Joker mentioned you."

"Oh, are you the owner of the ship he was tricking out?" The tone was less accusatory, but just as gravelly and still a little annoyed.

"I'm sorry in advance about the bar." Shepard said as she hefted Nihlus one handed up onto the bar and with extreme effort eased him down onto his back.

"I just cleaned it." She melodramatically whined.

Shepard carefully unbuttoned her overcoat and slowly peeled it off using only her right arm. She placed it over a chair. As for the black undershirt, she tore the sleeve off the left arm, elbow to wrist. "Do you have any Vodka?"

"Yeah, here." She grabbed a bottle from below the countertop opened it and passed it to Shepard.

Shepard took it, walked over to the sink behind the bar, and set the bottle down. She picked up the clear Vodka bottle and held it directly above her arm. She looked through the clear liquid, using it as a makeshift magnifying glass. For additional light she activated her Omni-tool.

She saw the bits that pierced through the overcoat and undershirt and into her arm. Some was glass, and some was small chunks of the building wall and metal. Shepard took a deep breath, steadied and calmed herself, but kept her eyes open. She concentrated on doing this very slowly and precisely. Her biotics gently manifested, instead of flaring into life like before. Very slowly all the bits and pieces in her arm lifted off and she dropped them in the sink. Then she used her Omni-tool to scan her arm. It reported the arm was clear of any foreign objects, but hadn't stopped bleeding.

"That kind of biotics would take a hell of a lot of control and concentration. Impressive." Aethyta said over Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard then took a swig of the Vodka, and poured a little over her arm. She was braced for the pain, but still sucked air in through her teeth. She clenched her muscles and flexed her hand a few times, "You have a clean rag?"

Aethyta handed Shepard a rag she was already holding, "Do you want a little help with a tourniquet?"

Shepard nodded and Aethyta began tying the tourniquet around Shepard's arm.

Once that was done Shepard walked over to the bar, took Nihlus's damaged shoulder armor off again and peeled the layer of Medi-gel off. She scanned over his shoulder with her Omni-tool to get the exact location of the round. Once she had it she used her biotics to slowly lift the bullet out. Once it was out of the hole and floating above the wound about four inches she grabbed it and placed it in a glass. "I'll pay for the glass in addition to the patron's tab and the Vodka."

Shepard replaced the Medi-gel and took the polonium round and threw it out the window.

Shepard relaxed, "My name is Shepard. You can leave if you want, I don't know if I'll be followed."

"Shepard, followed from where?" Aethyta said.

"The assassination attempt at the… What is the official name here? The "Illium-Omega Peace Conference." I don't think that's quite right."

"I heard that something happened over there. So what, are you two the only survivors or something?" Aethyta asked.

Shepard narrowed her eyes as she weighed her answer carefully, Aethyta had her back turned so she glanced around looking for any hidden traps or weapons. Finding none, she answered, "Not really. I sort of held the line to allow everyone to get away. I suspect most of the casualties were Jona's personal troop of Eclipse mercs. That and at least seven members of the hit squad. Six shooters and a gunship pilot, but not the gunship."

"Hey, quick question, Shepard?" Aethyta asked as she turned around.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you only have dextro Medi-gel?"

"My patron has my levo Medi-gel; I gave it to her as she left the building. To be fair, my wound is only due to updraft from a gunship going out of control. It's a good thing I covered my eyes with my" she grunted as she lifted her left arm, "arm."

"How were the negotiations going for Aria?"

Shepard left no hesitation in her cautious answer, "Quite well. Illium's negotiator was making herself look foolish and Aria's demands are really not all that much, as you are aware." Shepard watched for a reaction as she deftly added the last four words almost innocuously.

"No, I suppose not… Damn it! I jumped the gun on that. You're sharp." Aethyta hung her head in irritation at herself.

Shepard eyed the bartender for a few seconds, "You had a bug in the negotiating room, didn't you?"

"It's not what you think! I had no idea what the hell cut my sig-" Aethyta said, head snapping up, her expression sincere.

"She's okay, Shepard. She was simply spying on her ex." Aria spoke, causing Shepard to turn her head to the front door. Something in the way that was spoken made Shepard think the ex being mentioned wasn't Aria.

"How did you know?" Aethyta said in shock.

Aria pointed to a small, innocuous corner of the bar ceiling.

"Oh…"

Shepard smirked, "Aria! Are you alright?"

"Not even dirty Shepard, well maybe not physically dirty. Which is more than I can say for you. Here, have some Medi-gel. And maybe consider a bath or shower."

"Thanks." Shepard said sarcastically elongating the vowel sound. She got up and applied the Medi-gel, heading to a side room to get comfortable in a chair for a few hours.

Aria stepped up to the bar, "Will he be okay?"

"Nihlus? He'll be fine. Maybe sore for a few weeks. The polonium round didn't do too much damage, and the Medi-gel kept said damage limited." Shepard replied as she reclined in the chair, shutting her eyes.

"Hey, before you fall asleep, turn on the vid-news." Aria requested.

Shepard yawned in tiredness, "Record it, I'll look tomorrow."

Aria smirked and glanced at Aethyta, who turned on the bar's vid-screen. The report showed the attack in detail. The sudden explosion taking the walls out, Shepard shielding Aria and Nihlus shielding the Matriarchs. The first shot was heard and Nihlus went down hard, and Shepard threw her barrier up. The report showed a massive amount of gunfire hitting the barrier. The camera zoomed in showing Shepard dead center, her body and clothes glowing in a swirling biotic field. It showed each party leaving one at a time, the Illium military officers dragging Nihlus over to Shepard and leaving. The camera zoomed in more for a close up as Shepard retracted the biotic field as she drew her arms close. The shoving of the biotic field disrupted the camera shot briefly as it shook violently. But the camera view reoriented itself in time to see the assault rifle flying to Shepard's hand. It showed her firing one handed as her left hand pulled the pistol to begin firing that as well. There seemed to be confusion in the camera operator's mind. As the camera briefly glanced at the negotiating table, then to Shepard. But it became clear several long seconds later as the table was uprooted and fell directly in front of Shepard who immediately ducked underneath it. The angle was able to obliquely see what Shepard was doing, better than the assassins could anyway. So the camera moved angles and then it was shown Shepard was applying Med-gel to Nihlus's wound. Shepard was shown pausing in her movements, and then glance up over the table. The camera looked off in the direction Shepard did and saw the gunship flying on approach. The camera reoriented on Shepard doctoring the assault rifle. Then she popped up and fired at the gunship in a few bursts. Then she ducked down, popped back up and threw the assault rifle straight up in the air, and then biotically launched it at the gunship. The camera stayed on the gunship as the rifle detonated, shattering the windshield. The camera oriented back on Shepard as she pulled her pistol and fired three shots. Upon the third the gunship reared back, kicking up debris and dust. And then the gunship was crashing. The last shot was Shepard pulling Nihlus into the escape tunnel and collapsing it behind her.

"Holy crap! You got yourself one hell of an ace in the hole, Aria." Aethyta said in amazement.

"Yeah. I'm quite proud of her. But, I can't keep her forever. Don't get me wrong, she's made a lifelong friend of the Pirate Queen. But she's got to find her own path; she's going to leave one hell of an impact on the galaxy." Aria said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Aethyta scoffed, "From what I can see already, the impact she'll be leaving will be almost as big as the discovery of the mass effect."

Aria turned a mildly sardonic glare on Aethyta. And Aethyta added, "Okay, that was an exaggeration. But you are right. It'll be a lasting one for sure."

Aria pulled a bottle of whatever was in the nearest one and then grabbed the second closest one. Knowing of course that dextro drinks were in a different section. She raised her bottle, "To my Commandant. To Shepard."

"To Chancellor Shepard." Aethyta grinned at the title as she raised the bottle Aria handed her.

Nihlus groaned and woke up as the Asari were drinking over him. He spoke groggily, "Could I have something?"

Aria leaned back in the seat and glanced over at the white overcoat, "Oh, I should get this to an all-day laundry service to get it cleaned and re-stitched."

Aethyta handed Nihlus a bottle and grabbed three glasses so they wouldn't have to keep drinking out of the bottle.

Nihlus poured himself a little as he asked, "Where am I?"

"Eternity Bar, Shepard brought you. She pulled the polonium round out of your shoulder after she cleaned and tied a tourniquet on her left arm." Aethyta answered.

Aria lifted the overcoat and held the sleeve out to show the dark red stain of fair size.

"Spirits! I was supposed to protect all the delegates at this negotiation. Instead, my ass is saved by one of the delegates." Nihlus said as he ran his hand over his face in frustration.

"Hey don't beat yourself up. No one expected a full on professional hit squad." Aethyta said.

"Especially one with a gunship. Wait, how do you…?"

"It's all over the news." Aria stated. As she typed onto her Omni-tool to make contact with the Matriarchs.

A few seconds later her Omni-tool blinked into life and Lidanya answered, "Aria? Have you found your Chancellor?"

"Yes. I also found your missing Spectre. Shepard's asleep, but Nihlus is awake if you'd like to speak to him." Aria answered.

"Put him on." Lidanya answered.

"Are you injured, Lidanya?"

"No. But if I recall, you are." Lidanya answered.

"I suspect my shoulder will be sore for quite a while. Polonium rounds hurt worse for longer, but thanks to Aria's Chancellor, I should be fine." Nihlus answered.

"Damn good to hear. But I think we all owe the Chancellor for this one. Anyway, Benezia and I were talking, and we wanted to move the negotiations to the Citadel. C-Sec can provide the bulk of the security and you can direct them." Lidanya said.

Nihlus looked up at Aria. Aria shrugged and said, "I have no objections. My demands haven't changed."

"True, but I suspect Illium's attitude may have, especially with added pressures from the Asari government. In addition, a few circumstances have changed: I've had Turian forces confiscate the delivered dreadnoughts and I'm given to understand that Supreme Vizier Sederis has abdicated her position to her sister. Jona has signed everything over to your Confederacy and named an administrator from her sister's old staff. In addition, I'm told that the Asari High Command wishes to award Shepard for her defense today. That's all I've been told so far. Other than that the award will be presented once the peace has been signed."

"Alright. Oh, I have one addendum to the peace conference. I want a non-aggression pact with Illium."

"That won't be hard. Especially given the fact you didn't make any territorial demands." Lidanya replied, a smile evident in her tone.

"Is there any particular way you want everyone transported?"

"Benezia is arranging a single transport for all delegates, and an honor escort from the Turians. It seems they're eager to learn of the tactics used in the battle. I was thinking Shepard could make a computer or holographic simulation, that would be best. It's more than enough to make it into the history books."

"Shepard will likely want to consult with, now I don't know if they've been drummed out, Admiral Ialleia and Captain Ludainya."

"I'll make the arrangements with them." Lidanya said. She cut the communication and Aria got up to take the overcoat to a cleaner.

The next day Shepard stirred herself awake when Aethyta gently shook her awake. Her eyes opened and she said groggily, "Wha- Oh, you have to open the bar soon, don't you?"

"Yep. Here, some delivery breakfast. You and Nihlus still have a couple hours. Aria left directions to the meeting point for all the delegates." Aethyta smirked as she handed over the plate of food.

Shepard took the plate and got up, wincing as she put weight on her right foot. "I must have sprained something last night."

Aethyta grabbed the cane Aria left in the doorway, "Here, Aria said it was yours."

"Indeed it is. It's gone from useful to a prop and now back to useful." Shepard grinned. She shifted her weight onto the cane and walked with it into the main room, "Good to see you up and eating Nihlus. I was fairly certain I had gotten the bullet out in time to avoid radiation poisoning, but I'm hardly an expert on such things."

"Thanks, Shepard. Now come on, we both need to eat." Nihlus said with an appreciative smile.

They chatted and traded some stories for the rest of the early morning. Aethyta pointed out the freshly cleaned and repaired overcoat and new undershirt. They made their exit with a goodbye to Aethyta a half hour before the bar opened. Shepard used her Omni-tool to guide them to a spaceport very close to the bar. From there they boarded a shuttle that was waiting for them. Inside the shuttle was the whole delegation, minus the Sederis sisters.

Benezia stood up, "We will be boarding a vessel piloted by a helmsman of Aria's choosing, and co-piloted by someone of Illium's choosing. It will be captained and crewed by neutral forces. The Turian Hierarchy has provided a military escort of several ships. To show how confident they are, they have sent Generals Corinthus, Oraka, and Victus."

Lidanya stood to finish for Benezia, "Chancellor Shepard will be transferring to the Turian command ship, along with Ialleia and Ludainya at their request. I must ask, for your safety, for you to obey all security protocols set by the Turian officials. That is all." The shuttle ride was quiet and fast.


	18. Chapter 17: Armistice Pt 2

Chapter 17 Armistice part 2

Shepard, Ialleia and Ludainya sat in the private shuttle in a comfortable silence. But Shepard could still tell something was bothering the two of them, "Is something wrong? You haven't been discharged have you?"

"Yes we have, in fact. My outburst before the negotiations even began assured I'd be drummed out of the service." Ludainya said, almost heartbroken at the loss of her career.

"When I refused to lie in the testimony they threatened to stick me behind a desk in the worst area of Illium. I simply resigned to avoid that." Shepard winced and looked down at the floor and Ialleia continued, "But don't you start blaming yourself. It's not your fault, and it's not our fault."

"Yeah Commandant, we don't blame you." Ludainya added.

Shepard looked up, "Please, call me Shepard." Ludainya and Ialleia both smiled and nodded in appreciation.

The shuttle docked with all the efficiency that Turians always endeavored to display. Shepard stepped onto the Turian flagship, the dreadnought Mehrkuri, named for the Turian chief of naval operations during the Krogan Rebellions. She limped forward with her cane, and gave a militarily perfect salute to the three Turian generals and the captain of the ship. The salute was returned in the Turian fashion and everyone relaxed.

General Oraka spoke first, "Is your leg hurt?"

"I sprained it in the attack yesterday. I aggravated a wound I received just a little over a month ago when a Blue Suns captain who has a grudge against me decided he wanted to ambush me, capture me, and torture me. It didn't end well for either myself or his men. He escaped, barely, but he lost all but two of his men." Shepard smirked deviously, "Of course that would be second time he's attacked either me or my home, and I killed everyone he brought against me."

The generals laughed, "And you two must be Admiral Ialleia and Captain Ludainya."

They shook the generals' hands and both said, "Actually former, now."

"Former? Was it due to your defeat?" Corinthus asked.

"No, none of Illium's tacticians would have been as level-headed as we were. It's because we refused to go along with their attempts at lying or painting Shepard and Aria as the aggressors. Our ally attacked them, and they reacted swiftly." Ialleia stated.

General Victus nodded thoughtfully, "Well, I am looking forward to viewing the holographic simulation. Let me show you to the computational rooms we'll be lending you.

Shepard followed General Victus through the ship. Victus suggested, "If I may? You might want to familiarize yourself with the program. Perhaps, as a way to do that, you might load your battle with the Grand Praetorian's forces."

Shepard glanced between the generals, reading their expressions. And then she glanced at Ialleia and Ludainya and got the feeling that they wanted to unwind, still reeling from being discharged. She knew General Victus had a reputation for unique and unorthodox strategies she knew she could use a high level contact in the Hierarchy when she struck out on her own, "I get the feeling you are the only one here interested in that battle, General Victus. Would you care for a private presentation? I'm sure Ialleia and Ludainya want to stretch their legs a bit, perhaps relax for a while. I can catch them up on the system."

Victus smirked as he figured out her intentions. But he bowed his head in respect as he said, "You do me great honor, Commandant. Or do you prefer Chancellor?"

"Shepard will do fine, General." She replied with a friendly smile and a gesture into the room as if to say "after you."

"Victus, then." He replied with the Turian equivalent of a smile.

The other generals nodded at this turn of events and led Ialleia and Ludainya on a brief tour.

Once inside they chatted amiably and set to work.

/\

"Relax Joker. She's surrounded by the Turian military. She's not coming to harm on the Turian's biggest dreadnought." Aria said as Joker expertly matched pace with the much slower escort ships.

"I know, Aria. Okay, I'll relax about that, but right now I'm more concerned with this ship that Matriarch Benezia arranged. It's got speed, sure. But, I've got a bad feeling about this ship. Something doesn't seem right with the controls, it's like they have a delay of a second or so. There are no weapons to speak of, and the kinetic barriers don't look stable enough to absorb a thrown rock! Where did she get this piece of junk?"

"She got it through her contacts, why?" Aria leaned in closer, so the nearby Illium co-pilot couldn't overhear, "You want me to check into them and this ship?"

"Could you? I'd at least be put at ease while you're checking. After what happened at the negotiations… I don't know, I just don't trust this ship." Joker said with a worried glance at Aria.

"Alright. I'll check into it. If the feeling is this strong, you may be on to something." Aria responded, face thoughtful of how to go about this. She walked away to begin searching through available information.

Joker tried to put his mind at ease, but every time he glanced at a gauge or screen he saw a suspicious power fluctuation or a false sensor reading. Finally he turned to the Illium co-pilot, "Hey, are you seeing all this crap on your screens?"

"Shut up and fly the ship. I at least can see why Aria picked you. You are good, even distracted as you are." The Asari replied, tersely.

"Just humor me, look at your damn screens." Joker responded insistently.

The Asari rolled her eyes and muttered a barely audible, "Fine." She looked over her screens. Her tone dropped into worry, "Huh, you're right. This thing is practically falling apart, or it at least appears to be. I'll see if I can run diagnostics."

After a few minutes the Asari reported, "The diagnostics program is malfunctioning, it reads everything nominal. It shouldn't be reading that with these power fluctuations."

Joker opened his mouth to respond when a dull thud echoed onto the helm. And then the klaxons sounded. Joker's hands flew over the console, tracing the source of the alarms. He located it as an explosion. Aria came running full force, "An explosion in one of the cabins! Nihlus is checking it out now."

"Was anyone hurt?" Joker asked.

Lidanya walked up behind Aria, "No, just a couple people shell shocked. Including you, Aria, get to sickbay."

Aria sighed and walked back. Lidanya spoke to Joker, "She was telling me about some of the problems you've had with this ship."

The Asari pilot spoke, "He's right, ma'am. All my sensor boards are showing constant random power fluctuations, but the diagnostics I ran reads an all nominal."

"Well, I'm concerned too. The cabin with the bomb in it would have been Shepard's, had she not been transferred to the dreadnought. Benezia is attempting to get a reckoning with the contacts she used to get this rust bucket. She was told the ship would be in far better condition. Put a call through to the dreadnought, I need to inform them of this development."

Joker tapped a few keys on the console and motioned to Lidanya that the line was open, "This is Matriarch Lidanya. We have a problem; there was a bomb in one of the cabins. Shepard may be in danger, repeat, Shepard may be in danger."

"S- agai- you- commu- is spo-" Came the crackled reply.

"Damn it. The commboard is shot to shit. Literally, there are some bullet holes." Joker said in frustration. He added, "And the power fluctuations are draining our comm array. Strange, as soon as I activated the link the drain started. Is this a computer virus, software sabotage?"

"See if you can isolate the power drain, and divert power from the kinetic barriers to the comm array."

"Aye, aye, Matriarch Lidanya." Joker responded. His hands flew over the consoles and holographic GUI interfaces. After a minute he reported, "I've isolated some of the power drain and established a secure connection, no telling how long it'll last though."

Lidanya decided to keep it as brief as possible, "Mehrkuri? This is Lidanya; there has been a bombing attempt. We believe the target may have been Shepard. Repeat, likely target: Shepard. Acknowledge."

A more solid voice spoke, "Acknowledged. Are you having technical problems as well?"

"Yes. We may have been sabotaged electronically, as well as being given a pile of rust."

"Duly noted. I'll pass this along. Mehrkuri out." The comm clicked off and Joker redistributed power.

Lidanya released some of her tension in a deep sigh as her shoulders momentarily drooped. She turned and strode back, "Continue tracking the source of these malfunctions, I'll assign some techs throughout the ship to work with you. Keep me posted."

"Yes, ma'am." Joker responded as he continued checking the systems.

/\

The Turian comm operator switched the comm off and turned in his seat. "This isn't worth the damn bribe." He muttered. Something in his head seemed to click and he mentally changed his report. He got up and said to the Captain on the bridge, "Sir, it seems a bomb went off in what would have been Shepard's cabin had she not been onboard here."

"Noted. I'll pass the warning. How long have you been on duty, Lieutenant Turillian?"

"Since we set off from Illium." He answered.

"That's right. You were in the head when the announcement was made that the Chancellor was transferring over as a guest of the Generals. Go, get some sleep. You've been on duty for twelve hours."

"Thank you sir." Turillian headed off the bridge as the XO called his relief to the bridge.

Captain Acutus turned to the ship intercom and punched the holographic simulation room, as he pushed the button he heard Shepard speaking, "At this point, Generals, Admiral Kyrikus weakened the sensor shroud and comm blocking and established connection to Patriarch. He spoke; leading Illium's forces into thinking that this was our only shot at beating them and this force was all we could muster."

An Asari voice spoke up, "And as you can see from the way I, admittedly overconfidently, repositioned my forces we bought it."

"From there, as you can see, we held the line for another three and half hours until Aria arrived, doubling the Confederacy's numbers. In addition she jumped in from behind them, firing immediately. She took out most of their reserve ships and damaged the dreadnoughts. That was when the transmission for conditional surrender from Ialleia went through."

"Generals, Chancellor and guests. I apologize, but I must interrupt, I have a disturbing report."

"Yes, captain?" General Oraka asked over the intercom.

"There was a bombing attempt in what would have been Shepard's cabin on the delegate's ship." Acutus reported.

"What? What do we know?" Corinthus asked in surprise at the news.

"Unfortunately that's all the information we have at the moment. I have to assume the Spectre on the ship is investigating as we speak." The captain responded.

"Very well. Report when you have more information." Victus said.

"Do you know if anyone was caught in the blast?" Shepard asked.

"I don't think so. They would have said something in the transmission, ma'am. Captain Acutus out."

He pushed another button on the intercom, "Security, put a watch on our guests' rooms. We are concerned for their safety."

"Aye, aye, sir." Came the crisp reply.

Captain Acutus turned to his XO, "Keep your guard up."

/\

Shepard limped to her cabin after being given directions. Ialleia and Ludainya were right behind her. She smiled pleasantly at the security detail, said good night and stepped inside the dark room.

She flipped the light switch and glanced around at the VIP room she was provided with. It had a small closet for her clothes, a built in restroom, and an extranet terminal. Shepard set the cane down by the bed and began unbuttoning the overcoat. She carefully hung it up and sat down on the bed. She pulled her left boot off, and then carefully pulled the right boot off. Next came her left sock; and then, gingerly, the right sock. She pulled her right pant leg up and brought her foot into her reach. She gently massaged some of the soreness out of the ankle before putting it back on the ground and slowly putting more weight on it. She mumbled to herself, "At least it'll probably be better in a couple days."

She slowly got up and limped over to a water cooler to get a small glass of water. It had been a long day and she figured on getting some sleep while she could. She shut the light off, laid down on her side facing the entrance and closed her eyes. Minutes later she was still awake. She found herself flashing back to Tarak's ambush… and after. She opened her eyes, sighed in frustration, and tried to force the memories out of her mind. But as such things go, one bad memory led to others that were less fresh. She forced her breathing into a steady rhythm and closed her eyes again.

But now a small sound from her bathroom forced her eyes to shoot open. It wasn't much, just a small squeak followed by a light clatter. She kept her breathing even, not dissimilar to the breathing pattern of sleep. Another small squeak and clatter. Two more, and finally a click, like thin metal coming off another piece of thicker metal. But then, silence for a while. But it was enough to arouse her suspicions. She waited patiently for another sound, whoever this was, was no foolish amateur eager to rush the kill. Shepard decided to risk something, she slowly and carefully reached out and grabbed her cane and pulled it under the covers with her. When there was no change in the situation for a solid thirty seconds, she relaxed her tense posture back into battle ready. A couple minutes passed in silence. Shepard quietly wondered what the assassin was waiting for, and then realized he or she was waiting for the changing of the guards.

Finally a single footstep was heard, but it was very close to the bed, meaning it was a misjudged placement. She waited until the assassin had the knife poised to sink straight down, then threw the bed sheet in the attacker's face and launched, only a little unsteadily, to her feet; cane held up in a swordsman's grip. "Who sent you?"

A Turian voice grunted and growled in frustration as he struggled to disentangle himself from the bed sheet. Without a word Shepard could hear him switch grips on the knife and take a better stance.

Shepard smirked, "Fine then." She thrust forward with the cane, while taking a rapid step forward. The cane shoved forward, under the Turian's guard. She then forcefully moved the cane up, trying to knock the blade from the Turian's grip. He just stepped back and let the blade slide off the cane and down, pointing to the ground. Shepard went for a leg sweep with the cane, but missed and spun a 360 on her left heel, carrying through the second swing into about neck height. That one connected and knocked the Turian onto the bed. Shepard tried to continue the onslaught by swinging down for a blunt hit, but only hit her bed as the Turian rolled off and to his feet.

The Turian took the offensive as Shepard began turning, slowed by her injured foot. He slashed forward with the knife and cut her left arm somewhat badly. "Ah!" She grunted through gritted teeth. Shepard backed up and pretended the injury was worse than it was.

She was apparently convincing when she collapsed onto her butt, back against the wall, though she was still clutching the cane, ready.

The Turian, though convinced he had a huge advantage, refused to get cocky and approached cautiously. When he finally went in for the kill she shoved the cane up at his throat, he backed way up, coughing violently and trying to breathe in. Shepard got up using the cane, and knocked the Turian hard in the side of the head. He collapsed onto the ground and didn't move.

Shepard was cautious of a trick of his own, she moved the knife away from the Turian and poked him fairly hard a couple times with the cane. Finally she limped to her door and shouted, "Hey! Guards, I've got an incapacitated intruder! And I'm going to need some medical assistance!"

A guard just coming on duty reacted fast and spoke into the intercom, "Captain, we've got an incapacitated intruder in Shepard's room. Get a medic who has some knowledge of human anatomy, Shepard is injured."

"On their way. I want full watch on the prisoner, I don't want this bastard committing suicide before we can interrogate him."

Ialleia and Ludainya poked their heads out of their rooms, "What's going on?"

"I knocked an assassin out." Shepard answered with a wince as she tried to keep pressure on her cut while keeping weight on her left foot. When they both looked at her arm in worry Shepard added, "I'll be fine. This isn't as bad as yesterday. But it will probably take longer to heal."

The medics soon arrived, one cleaned and dressed Shepard's cut and the other hauled away the Turian. Shepard caught a look at the knife, it was a fifteen centimeter serrated blade. The medic she was with commented with a disappointed shake of his head, "Ceremonial blade, and that's a crewmember, worse it's a lieutenant."

"Must have been given a _huge_ bribe to dishonor his fellow crewmembers and commission like this." Shepard said.

"Probably." The medic agreed, his voice just as disappointed as before.

The medic guided Shepard to the med-bay.

/\

"Well, we found bombs in several other cabins and defused them. There doesn't seem to be any sort of pattern in the locations of the bombs, the targets are all over from both sides of the table." A Batarian in the employ of Aria reported to Matriarch Lidanya and Nihlus.

An Asari from Illium's delegation nodded and added, "We even found small bombs in what would have been Ialleia's and Ludainya's rooms."

The two nodded and walked away. Nihlus sighed and turned to Lidanya, "I can see a few possibilities. Only one or two are the real targets, and the rest are a blind to throw us off. Or they're all targets."

"Why would they all be targets?" Lidanya asked in confusion.

"Someone who wanted to torpedo the peace?" Nihlus theorized.

"Just Shepard as a target would do that. Aria is quite fond of her." Lidanya stated.

"True, but if they don't frame Illium…" Nihlus said with a wry smirk.

"We're getting pretty deep into just a theory, here." Lidanya warned.

"Right. More evidence. We should check on Joker's progress." Nihlus said with a chagrined nod.

"Now you're talking sense, Nihlus." Lidanya said with an amused smile.

They walked to the helm and Joker said, "I don't have too much to tell you right now. There's a mess of computer problems. I think perhaps these myriad tiny problems are masking what we need to be looking for; it's just a thought."

"Do you have anything to back that?" Nihlus asked in an even tone.

"Well no, not implicitly. But take a look at this." He brought up a screen that showed all the computer and hardware malfunctions by sections. "There's a few worrisome problems in the engines and mass effect drives, the shields are a mess, but in these other less immediately important operations and functions there are so many tiny errors and almost purposeful viruses it would take weeks of work just to clear the system. Underneath these problems could be something bad, like really bad."

Nihlus leaned in close as he scanned the information, then a thought struck him, "Lidanya, get the three best techs up here. I've got an idea."

Minutes later the techs showed up and Nihlus explained, "Joker, I want you to shut down the worst affected systems one at a time." He pointed at the closest tech, "Tech one, when he cuts power I want you to virtually quarantine whatever he shut down. With luck we'll cut whatever's causing our worst problems." He pointed at one of the other two techs, "I want you to wait and see if there is an active hack in our systems. If there is, the hacker may try to worm back in through another corrupted operation or even a file. You've got to keep ahead of him and stop him." He pointed to the last Tech, "I want you to back trace the hacker if they try worming back in." He gestured at everyone, palms up, "Everyone got it?"

"Yes, sir."

Joker prepared to call out the system he was shutting down. Lidanya turned and said, "I'll go check on Aria and see how she's doing. Let me know how this goes."

/\

Shepard limped onto the bridge, left arm in a sling. "Captain Acutus, have you interrogated him yet?"

"No, he's still unconscious. What I called you up here for is a problem with the comms. We can't raise the delegate's ship. Worse, the assassin was Lieutenant Turillian. He was the last one to have contact with that ship, reported the bomb in what would have been your quarters. I'm thinking now he may have left something out."

"Could have something to do with the communication problems." Shepard stated.

"Probably…" He then got angry, "Dammit! I've served with Turillian many times before, he was a good man. I just… I just never saw this coming."

"We won't know what motivated this until we interrogate him. Hell, at this point; for all we know; it could blackmail, extortion, bribery, or something worse."

"Worse?"

"Did he go missing at any time before you got this assignment?"

Captain Acutus looked up in surprise, "As a matter of fact, yes. He went AWOL for four days, he was being held captive by some pirate group. Why?"

"It might not have been pirates. I have a theory, could you have your medical personnel scan his head with something non-magnetic?" Shepard said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I can order that now."

A half an hour later the scans came back, with their head doctor, "I don't know what suspicion you had, but we found a foreign object carefully and meticulously placed in his skull. We wouldn't have ever caught it, but the blow you gave him in the head shifted it. It looked like a chip. We haven't tried to remove it, though we did remove some cyanide, a human poison. I don't know if it would have much of any effect on a Turian, then again it might be just as lethal."

"Worse, that's a human poison favored black ops agents or shadowy organizations. Whoever abducted your lieutenant wanted an agent. Or, if it _is_ new, they wanted to test out their new control chips." Shepard said with a sigh.

"Any idea who it might be?"

"No, the only person I think would have any information on a rogue human black ops group is a mercenary who recently captured a member of one. If I can contact the mercenary Zaeed Massani, I might have an answer for you."

"I'll put a call out for him to meet us on the Citadel." Captain Acutus said.

"Thanks. I would suggest we treat the Lieutenant carefully. I don't need to press charges, perhaps we should remove the chip."

"I'll prep the surgery."

/\

"We've got it! The power fluctuations have dropped to one percent." Joker and the co-pilot both said.

"Quarantined." The first tech said.

"Oh, we poked them in the eye. Crap, this guy is good." The second tech reported.

"Backtracking the connection now."

Nihlus spoke, "Nice work."

Minutes later the second tech slammed his hands down on his console, "Joker, shut down aft running lights, he beat me there."

Joker shut it down and the first tech quarantined it. The second tech began typing furiously again. And the third tech continued the back trace.

It continued until the third tech said, "I've got it, the signal goes all over the place, it goes to the Mehrkuri and bounced around a few consoles, then comes back to this ship and bounced around from multiple consoles ending up in the passenger section. The assassin is onboard, sir."

Nihlus was already sprinting back to the passenger cabins, calling Lidanya on his Omni-tool as he ran.

Minutes later they met outside the room that the tech sent to Nihlus's Omni-tool. He palmed the door open and Lidanya pointed her sidearm into the room, "Get away from the terminal!"

The Illium negotiator clenched her jaw, "If Shepard hadn't transferred, my goal would have been done! Too bad you'll never know who gave me my orders." She reached into her pocket and a soft click was heard, like a button being pushed.

The room exploded, knocking Lidanya and Nihlus back into the bulkhead opposite the door.

"The operation was successful; he'll be out for another few hours. If it'll help, I was able to sign out the chip so you can show it to your contact."

"Thanks." Shepard reached out and took the container, the cane hanging off her wrist; she placed the container in her pocket.

Captain Acutus spoke, "We're about two hours from the Citadel; we've finally got reports from the delegate's ship. Apparently the Illium negotiator flipped out and tried to kill you, and when that failed because you were over here she tried to kill several other people. They think they've determined that she was acting alone but on someone else's initiative. The majority of the ship's software problems have mostly fixed themselves giving evidence that this woman was an accomplished hacker. Of course they still think it's a rust bucket with unstable shields."

"Joker has high standards when it comes to ships; it's why I had Aria hire him." Shepard said with a smile and an amused exhale of breath.

"He might be right, though. They sent me readings on the kinetic barriers, along with his exaggeration on their ability, quote, "couldn't stop a thrown rock." According to the readings he sent, that's almost true." Captain Acutus said with an amused tone.

The three generals looked up from the screen they were looking at, Victus spoke for them, "I'd say that is pretty damn accurate."

Shepard sat down absently tapping her cane on the floor. "It's time to see if the replacement for Illium's negotiator will be less crazy and more reasonable."

"Well, there will be a delay in the negotiations as the Asari government vets Illium's choices to pick one that isn't a murder/suicide risk." General Oraka stated as he read from a file from Thessia.

"I think the negotiator actually flipped out. She didn't seem homicidal at Illium, especially when the hit squad blew the building. She was scared shitless. Which means that was another attack, and that one had Asari and Turians. They couldn't all be working for a rogue human black ops group."

"Probably not, no." General Corinthus said with a shake of his head.

Victus spoke up, "I'll call in a favor from a friend in C-sec. You'll have a bodyguard or two."

"Aria's called in her own favor with a mercenary to act as Shepard's guard. A Krogan."

"Wrex? He can work with anyone, even Turians. He's got a… subtlety about him. I've worked with him before. Before I was in employ of Aria, in fact." Shepard commented.

"Well a couple more heads won't be a problem. Hell, I doubt the Vakarians will object." Victus said.


	19. Chapter 18: Armistice Pt 3

Chapter 18 Armistice part 3

"Priority call for you, Senior Officer Vakarian." A junior officer reported, interrupting his lunch with his son.

"Well, I'll wait outside." Garrus said as he grabbed some of his food.

"Actually Garrus, it's for you too."

"Oh. Well thanks Officer Smith."

The junior officer left and Senior Officer Vakarian opened his Omni-tool and put the call on his vid-screen behind the desk.

The face of Turian General Adrien Victus popped up, "Hello, Senior Officer Vakarian."

Garrus fought the urge to stand at attention, but he did sit up straighter, "General Victus, sir."

Senior Officer Vakarian merely nodded his respect. Victus smiled, despite himself. He continued, "I apologize for interrupting lunch with your son. Garrus, how's that promotion?"

"Excellent, so far. Sir." He replied crisply.

Victus laughed, "Garrus, relax. I'm not anywhere near as formal as some other Turian officers. Some would say that it's my downfall."

"Forgive the impatience, sir, but what is it you need?" Senior Officer Vakarian asked.

"I'm sure you've heard about the Asari mess on Illium. Well the peace delegates are being transferred to the Citadel for increased security. Apparently Nihlus was injured."

"Right, Executor Pallin is wondering what exactly C-sec will be doing." Senior Officer Vakarian asked.

"Most will be on generalized security details, some will be on patrol routes, and some will be sniper security."

"You think assassins will infiltrate the peace delegations?" Garrus asked, since he was without question the best sniper in C-sec he was quite curious.

"Actually it's already happened in Illium's delegation. En route to the Citadel there were several hacks and bombs spread all over their ship. But you two are getting a different assignment." Victus explained.

"You want us to investigate the assassination attempts?" Senior Officer Vakarian asked in incredulity.

"No, not this time. I want you two on protection detail for one of the delegates."

"Bodyguards?" Garrus asked, a little disappointed.

"Yes. There has already been one sure attempt on her life, two other attempts imply her as a primary target." Victus said, choosing his wording carefully.

Garrus didn't pick up on the wording, but did raise his brow in shock. Senior Officer Vakarian, however, did pick up on the wording, "Are you saying these attacks aren't related aside from the target of each? Do you know the odds of that?"

"No, but I'm sure they are exceedingly long. Until you look at what we do know, along with differing methods. The first attack looked like a hit squad contracted to kill a large number of the delegates, with no regard to collateral damage. I mean they blew up a building and brought in a gunship. Well, I'm sure you saw the news-vid."

"Some of it. Outside of Illium all we got was a leaked portion and the statement that all delegates were able to escape." Garrus answered in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I'll send you a copy I made while I was in orbit around Illium." He placated. He then continued, "The second attempt was a bombing of a passenger cabin and a rapid attempt to cover tracks when the woman realized the cabin was empty because the passenger was aboard our ship. Amateurish attempt. In addition the attempted bomber was in just as much danger from the professional hit squad on Illium."

"Was she caught?" Senior Officer Vakarian asked.

"No, she blew herself up. Illium's sending a new senior negotiator and Aria's been gracious enough to allow the delay. She's very confident she'll be granted what she wants, and frankly so am I. I've heard her demands, they boil down to get out and stay out."

"And the third attempt?" Garrus asked.

"Right. This one was blatantly hers. A… Lieutenant Turrillian, with a nasty control chip surgically placed in his head, attacked her in the VIP room during the changing of the guard while she was turning in for the night. On the Mehrkuri. He tried to kill her with a ceremonial blade." Victus said with a shake of his head.

Senior Officer Vakarian had gone slack jawed, but recovered, "Alright. Those do sound too different to be from the same group. What're the details?"

"The name of the woman you are protecting is Commandant Shepard, in the delegation roster she's going by Chancellor Shepard. She'll be hard to miss in the formal uniform."

At this both the Vakarians shot up, "Shepard?"

Victus smirked, "She told me she met you both briefly. And I figured she might have left an impression." His smirk turned serious, "Anyway, you won't be alone. Aria called in a favor of her own and got a Krogan named… Urdnot Wrex to be her bodyguard for the duration. He'll meet you in C-sec academy's main lobby."

"Wrex is alright, for a Krogan." Senior Officer Vakarian nodded with a small smirk.

"Well, Shepard has a meeting pertaining to that third attempt on her life with an associate of hers. Zaeed Massani may have information for her. And then she's due for negotiations round two." Victus finished.

"Is she hurt badly?"

"Her left arm is in a sling where the lieutenant cut her somewhat badly. And her right foot is slightly injured from a month old wound aggravated by the Illium attack so she walks with a slight limp and a cane. Though, she says the cane is as much prop as functional. Other than that, just that scar on her face, and maybe a few new ones since you last saw her." Victus reported.

"Where are we meeting her?"

"As a show of apology and good faith, Councilor Sparatus and Councilor Tevos both granted her access to Spectre priority docking above C-sec academy. She'll be on a shuttle with Nihlus. ETA an hour."

"Got it, tell the executor we accept this assignment."

"Sending word now. I'm not the only general on the Mehrkuri. Corinthus and Oraka are both here."

"What are three generals doing on one ship?" Garrus asked, he shrugged at his father when he turned to glare at Garrus.

"The Commandant gave us a presentation on _her_ winning battle strategy in what will probably become known as the Crescent-Omega War. Some brilliant tactical innovations and use of superior ship upgrades." He paused and then continued, "I'll let you both prepare, then." He shut the communication down.

Senior Officer Vakarian opened a file he received, the news-vid. He pulled it up as Garrus sat back down and finished his meal.

/\

An hour later the two Vakarians and Wrex waited for the shuttle to settle and open. When it did Nihlus stepped off first speaking over his shoulder, "I've got to make my report to the Council and brief C-sec. Looks like your bodyguards are here. I hope to work with you in the future, goodbye."

He swept past everyone else and moved quickly into the elevator. The two Vakarians and Wrex turned back to the shuttle and saw Shepard limp out of the shadows in the shuttle.

Senior Officer Vakarian blinked and turned to his son and Wrex, "Victus wasn't kidding. That's one impressive uniform, even with the arm in the sling."

"And I see what he meant by the cane being a prop as well as functional."

Shepard approached them with a smile, "It's good to see you three again. Pity about the circumstances."

"Remind me to marvel at your ability to make enemies later. Three disjointed assassination attempts? All happening within hours of each other? Even I haven't managed that." Wrex said by way of greeting.

"Oh, come on Wrex. That's a lie and all three of us know it. You've dealt with something like this yourself." Shepard laughed.

Wrex chuckled.

"Do you know where you're meeting Zaeed?" Officer Vakarian asked.

"I take it you know him, then?"

He nodded, "I've used him to hunt some high profile targets that fled to the Terminus."

"Well, he said he'd meet me in a public space, to reduce my own danger, Chora's Den." Shepard answered.

"Alright, we'll head that way now."

They used two unmarked skycars to get there, so Shepard wouldn't have to walk too far. Zaeed was waiting for her outside the club, leaning back against the door with his arms folded. When she walked into view with her backup being very discreet Zaeed nodded and pointed back towards the markets, "Sorry about putting undue stress on your foot, Shepard. But I thought it might be best if we stayed mobile while talking." He turned and spoke a little louder, "And you can come out. No need for discreet protection." Senior Officer Vakarian stepped forward first with a bemused smirk at Zaeed. Garrus came out next dropping down to the correct level, putting his sniper rifle away in favor of the assault rifle. Wrex stepped out of the back alley with his shotgun ready. Zaeed's brow rose, "Whoa. I didn't see Wrex there. That goddamn Krogan never ceases to amaze."

Shepard smirked and started moving back towards the crowd as her bodyguards spread out, two Vakarians leading and Wrex behind. Zaeed nodded, "At least you've got the best officer on the Citadel, the best shot on the Citadel, and well… Wrex. You seriously stepped in it, didn't you?"

"That's an understatement. I've had three separate attempts on my life in the past two and a half days."

"I heard about the hit squad on Illium. I've even seen the news-vid. Sorry, I've got nothing on them."

"Well, for that one I think I was just one target of several. The second one was amateurish, but could have been under orders. It's the third attempt that I have questions for you about." Shepard said as she glanced around the crowd.

"What do want to know?" Zaeed asked in curiosity.

"Remember the last time we saw each other?" At Zaeed's nod Shepard continued, "Well, what can you tell me about this chip, pulled from a Turian lieutenant's skull after he tried to stab me in VIP cabin on a Turian dreadnought with a ceremonial blade."

Zaeed looked at it in the container, then activated his Omni-tool for magnification. "Ah, shit."

"What?"

"I don't have a name for the group, but it is the same black ops group. I recognize the logo. That sort of angular oval that's open on the bottom, with two things flanking its sides following the angle." He winced, "Sorry, that's a crappy description."

"No, it's alright. I've got an idea from what you said." Shepard said.

They got to the elevator to the Presidium, "Got room for one more guard? I feel like I've got to make it up to you because I've got next to no information for you."

Officer Vakarian spoke up, "I've got no objections."

Wrex shook his head, "Me neither. Zaeed's damn good."

"Welcome aboard Zaeed."

"Where do you want me posted, Senior Vakarian. I know Junior Vakarian over there is a sniper and Wrex there is great at the up close and personal stuff."

"I want you backing my son with the sniping. Either spotting or pulling your own sniper rifle out. I know you're pretty good, too. Fair warning: shoot to incapacitate, _not_ kill."

"You got it." Zaeed answered with a nod.

The elevator opened and Shepard walked to the Council Tower. The Council allowed use of one of their meeting halls a couple floors below the council chamber. It was a brief walk, drawing several stares; somewhat due to her clothes, somewhat her facial scar, but mostly due to her retinue. Shepard was cautious and watching the crowd as she walked. "Officer Vakarian?"

"Yes Commandant? Or do you want Chancellor? Probably should have worked that out before we started off." Officer Vakarian asked.

"Just Shepard is fine. Sarah, if you're feeling informal."

"Then just Vakarian is fine for me, if you want my son say "Garrus." Anyway, what do you need?"

"Well, you see them up near the embassies?"

Vakarian looked up at where she indicated, "Good eye for seeing something up with them. But don't worry, they're plainclothes officers. Part of general security procedures. I'll have to tell them their acting needs some work."

"Well, don't be too hard on them. I've been a bit jumpy and a little paranoid since I was attacked on the Mehrkuri. He hid in the bathroom ventilation, I'm told he waited hours in that cramped space. Went straight there once he was off his shift."

Officer Vakarian studied the side of Shepard's face that he could see as he was matching her pace. He could tell there was something else.

"I can see you staring." Shepard stated matter-of-factly.

"Well I was just uh, just wondering about the scar." He said a little embarrassed.

Shepard chuckled wryly, "You're not very good at covering when you've been caught, are you?"

"No. Not really. But don't think I can't lie."

"With your record for undercover work? Of course you can lie, but that was more covering embarrassment."

He hung his head in mock shame and sighed in a way that showed he'd been caught, "Yeah, you got me there. Though since I broached the subject, albeit in a rude way, how did you get that scar? I've seen many human scars, quite a lot of them on our friend back there with the mismatched eyes. None of them have such a red coloring."

"Long story short, a bad batch of the wrong Medi-gel. Genetic poisoning, I got better. It still hurts sometimes, usually if I exert my biotics. Other times I hardly notice it, even with biotic exertion." Shepard answered quickly. She sighed, "Sorry. The scar is a bit of a touchy subject. If you want the whole story ask Zaeed, if you want why it's touchy ask Wrex."

At that time Shepard glanced over to look Vakarian in the face to show there were no hard feelings, but her eye caught sight of a glint in the artificial light. She had a sense of foreboding and stopped, holding the cane out to block Vakarian from continuing. The shot hit right where they would have been if she continued her stride.

Vakarian reacted fast and pushed Shepard's head down. Garrus had his sniper rifle out and fired, "Damn! He moved. Zaeed?"

Zaeed had a pair of binoculars and was scanning in the possible directions for movement, "There! Twenty meters to the left and one level down!" He pointed exactly where the shot needed to go. But Garrus missed again as the assassin ducked back out of the line of sight.

Shepard grunted, "Damn that was a good move. Kill me in the home stretch."

"Good catch Shepard. I was watching the wrong direction during our conversation." He spoke into his Omni-tool, "Wrex? Any luck?"

"He left his gun. And yes I know it was a he. I lost track of him when he ducked into a crowd, probably why he left the gun?" Wrex ended that inquisitively.

Vakarian concurred, "Likely. Get back here."

Shepard grabbed Vakarian's arm and spoke into the Omni-tool, "Don't touch the gun. It could be rigged to blow."

"Oh, it is. Can't just leave it though. Don't want some stupid young punk climbing out here." Wrex said.

"Ah, Wrex. I didn't know you cared about the stupid young punks." Garrus joked over the same frequency.

"Garrus. Joke later." His father warned in a very serious tone, but Shepard could see the ghost of a smile play across his face.

Wrex spoke to Shepard, "Don't worry Shepard. I'll use biotics from a distance." A few seconds later there was a small splash in the Presidium lake followed by a larger splash as the gun blew in the water.

"Which group was this one from?" Zaeed asked.

"Could be the first or third." Shepard answered. She added, "Garrus, Zaeed? What species was the killer?"

"Salarian." Garrus answered.

"Then my money would be on the first group. I doubt a human rogue black ops group would rely heavily on nonhuman agents. And if the first one's grasp reaches out of the Terminus onto the Presidium itself…" Shepard theorized.

Vakarian moved Shepard forward, staying low and covering her "You're right, that doesn't bode well for anyone. But why you as a target?"

"Destabilize the Terminus. In the chaos, move in? Actually that fits the human group more. What better way to set up hidden research facilities and secret military bases than to move in when all hell has broken loose around you?"

"What would the other group have to gain?"

"Disrupt Aria's organization? She'd want revenge; divert resources into finding who killed me, leaving certain clandestine fronts wide open to a hostile takeover?"

They made it to the elevator and an irritatingly long time later it opened. Benezia looked to the elevator, "Ah, Chancellor. We won't need you to restate anything, just read this transcript over and sign it if it's what you said back on Illium."

"So, all you'll need is my attendance and my signature on the final document?" Shepard asked as she glanced over the paper. Benezia nodded and hummed an affirmative.

At that time Councilors Sparatus and Tevos arrived in the elevator with Executor Pallin. Pallin was nervously speaking to Sparatus, "…What are we going to do about Lieutenant Turrillian? There's irrefutable proof he attacked her in her room. If this went public…"

Shepard looked up from the paper, "Let me save you a few headaches, executor. I'm not pressing charges. I'm not doing interviews. The only way this would go public is if the lieutenant took it public."

Sparatus, who had been trying to ignore the executor so he wouldn't shout shut up, stopped in his tracks, "That's very gracious of you, Chancellor Shepard."

Tevos turned to Sparatus, "Now, I want to know what's to be done about those dreadnoughts? Are they legitimate?"

"Yes. Our best techs have shown they are not modified carriers. They were built as dreadnoughts for the purpose of war, placing the Asari above the limit. We haven't made an announcement and the only people who know are either in this room or are ordered to keep quiet. Chancellor?"

"Yes, Councilor?"

"Do you intend to file any war criminal charges?"

Aria answered, "First, you should be asking me that. Second, go ahead and answer, Shepard."

Shepard put the paper down, and looked Tevos squarely in the eye, "No. It was a bargaining chip. Do with them what you will."

"That we shall, Chancellor." Sparatus nodded. "Pallin? Anything to say to the delegates while we're here?"

"Are there any security requests?" Pallin asked, expecting someone to ask for some special favors.

"Increase the numbers of plainclothes officers and spread them out a bit more. Use them as scouts rather than arresting officers." Shepard suggested with right arm held under the sling.

"I don't need advice from a civilian, thank you." Pallin said, mildly insulted.

Sparatus watched Shepard carefully for a reaction to Pallin's mildly snide tone. There wasn't much of one. So, Sparatus spoke up, "Careful, Pallin. The plan that crushed a numerically superior force that even had dreadnoughts came from that woman's mind. And maybe you should take a closer look at those medals on her coat. They mark her as General, Admiral, and Commandant in addition to Chancellor."

Shepard smiled in appreciation at the Turian Councilor, "Thank you, Councilor Sparatus." She turned a neutral expression on Pallin, who was silent as he was considering a response. Shepard decided to speak first, "Allow me to explain my reasoning. On the Presidium, just a few minutes ago, a sniper took a shot at me. Your plainclothes officers were bunched up near the Elcor, Volus, and Human embassies. When my bodyguards fired back he booby trapped his gun and ducked into an oblivious crowd. Don't be concerned, we dealt with the gun."

"Spirits! Heads will roll for bunching the officers up like that!" Pallin stormed into the elevator, snarling in anger.

Shepard sighed amusedly as she signed the transcript, "Let me know when I'm needed." She turned to Vakarian, "I don't think we'll learn much more about group three. Perhaps we should focus on group one."

"Hold on, Officer Vakarian. What does she mean by groups?" Sparatus asked.

Vakarian glanced at Shepard. Shepard shrugged, "Well, Councilor. I have determined that the three attempts on my life were separate. The first group is unusual, the one that attacked on Illium. I've guessed the sniper is from that group. Those were very professional hits. The second was just Illium's negotiator either flipping out or acting under orders from someone else, amateurish. The third is more complicated, some rogue black op. I think they're a human group."

"Why would a human group want you dead?" Sparatus asked.

Aria answered, "It would destabilize the Terminus enough to allow them to easily slip in and set up bases or research facilities."

Sparatus nodded, "Well, it's not the first time a black op has gone off grid and rogue. I'll see what Ambassador Udina or Admiral Hackett has to say about them."

Zaeed cleared his throat and Shepard said, "Oh, show them this." She handed Sparatus the container with the chip, "It's a control chip surgically removed from the lieutenant. That has to be their logo on it."

"This'll definitely get their attention. Good luck with that first group." Sparatus left and Tevos went to talk to the Matriarchs.

Aria spoke up, "Speaking of the first group, I've got an idea. Who would've had knowledge of everything about that peace conference? Who has the funds to hire a professional hit squad with their own gunship? And the hit squad; well, what was left of them; didn't know who hired them. Meaning an intermediary was used, maybe several. Who fits all of that, and benefits from my position weakening significantly?"

"The Shadow Broker." Shepard, Garrus, Wrex, and Officer Vakarian all said at once.

"Crap." Zaeed muttered.

"Well, no matter. I expect The Shadow Broker's agents to try again. I don't know about the third group. They might not have the resources to strike again so soon, or they might back off anyways in favor of other operations." Shepard said with a shrug. She turned to Vakarian, "I want to try catching this bastard when he tries again. I'm willing to go out as bait. Plus, he's bound to have backup."

Vakarian sighed, "Like I said back when we first met: I know how foolish it is to argue with a Shepard."

/\

It's been a day since Shepard signed the transcript. Her plan was simple; head out to a warehouse district as though she had a meeting with an informant. Illium's new negotiator had finally been chosen and passed through Asari High Command's vetting. She'd be there in two days' time.

The walk to the "meeting point" was short, but arduous with a cane. Fortunately her arm was out of the sling. Shepard made it, though and waited patiently. She knew Garrus and Zaeed were covering her from two different angles, and Officer Vakarian was in a small nearby crate ready to pop up on a moment's notice. Wrex, in full armor with helmet, was posing as her informant.

As Wrex approached and they went through rehearsed dialogue, a shot rang out. Shepard had been speaking with a biotic barrier up, the bullet stopped inches from her face and dropped to the ground.

A counter shot rang out from where Garrus was hiding and she heard a human voice cry out, "Ah! My leg! You shot my leg, you fucking bastard!"

Wrex mumbled to Shepard, "What a whiny assassin." Shepard and Wrex shared a wry chuckle.

An explosion went off and a large shipping crate was disintegrated. But as soon as the Turian stepped into sight a shot hit him through both legs and he went down, out cold from shock but alive.

A dull whine began and grew in volume steadily. Shepard groaned and rolled her eyes, "Another goddamn gunship."

The gunship was in position and would have started firing immediately, had Garrus not overloaded and sabotaged the guns with his Omni-tool. Zaeed damaged the engines with an inferno grenade and a small sardonic laugh.

Shepard and Wrex combined their biotics and slammed the gunship down to the ground and tore the canopy open. A dizzy Asari stumbled out, clutching her head.

And then the Salarian from earlier stepped into view of Shepard but not Wrex, "Congratulations Shepard. I underestimated you again. But this time you underestimated me. You're out of tricks and I've got a gun pointed right at your head. Your Krogan friend can't help you, and the two snipers can't get a good shot at me here." He very cockily pointed the gun and said, "Any last requests?"

"One question, actually. Why the arrogant monologue?"

The Salarian opened his mouth to offer a pithy reply, but before he could say anything Officer Vakarian popped out of the small packing crate, "You and your team are under arrest!"

The Salarian worked his jaw as his mind rapidly ran through his options. Shepard smirked, "By the way, my biotic barrier is still up."

That was enough. The Salarian didn't drop the cocky smile as he hanged his head forward and heaved a heavy sigh. He lowered the gun and dropped it lazily, then put his hands up in surrender.

An hour later Officer Vakarian brought Shepard a cup of coffee, with a cup of dextro coffee for himself. Shepard smiled up at him, "Hell of a high note to retire on, huh?"

"How did you-? You know what, that's not important. Thanks for giving me the big bust I wanted, Shepard. An assassin group with more than thirty high level contract killings; dozens of lower level murders and killings; several burglaries and grand thefts, including that gunship, and even a few smuggling cases. I'll be going out on more than a high note; in fact they're giving me a medal. You could have simply killed them outright, but you didn't. You even asked for Zaeed and Wrex to hold back, putting yourself in more danger; I can't even begin to make this up to you."

"You can start by letting me give you a medal of my own. I'm letting you in on a bit of a state secret. Aria's Confederacy isn't going to last, the warlords are too greedy. They'd tear it asunder in very short order; Aria's going to get full control of an expanded empire."

"A little political manipulation from you and some of them will betray, others chosen by you will give Aria full control. The warlords will quietly disappear, but not necessarily die. The people they once ruled will not care. Right?" Officer Vakarian finished.

"Exactly." Shepard said.

"What'll be the catalyst for the warlords' betrayal?"

"I have some information that the Hegemony is going to do something foolish. Just not specifically what, only when." Shepard answered. Vakarian smiled mischievously as he knew she was holding just a little back.

"I may be by the book, to a fault if you ask my son, but I know the political realities of the Terminus. This won't stabilize the entire Terminus, just a large portion of it. Honestly it's damn clever of you. I most certainly approve. I'd be honored to accept awards from Aria's Empire… For my sake, though, could you leave the word "Pirate" out of it?"

Shepard smiled, "Of course."

Officer Vakarian took a drink of his coffee, "You know, Wrex was right. In all my years I have arrested dozens of cold blooded killers, but never one as whiny as that Human."

They shared a laugh.

/\

"Illium accepts Aria's terms with no counter demands of our own." The new negotiator spoke fast once she was given the floor.

"Then we sign." Aria said.

The Illium negotiator signed, then Aria signed, and then Shepard signed. Benezia and Lidanya both signed as witnesses.

Shepard leaned back and sighed as she relaxed, "Now I can get to work on the medal for Officer Vakarian."

"Actually, Chancellor. He won't be the only one receiving a couple medals." The Illium negotiator said with a smile of her own.

Shepard scrunched her brows and turned her head to look at the negotiator, "What?"

Aria interjected, "Shepard, the Asari High Command wanted to give you a medal for your action on Illium, defending the peace conference delegates, a Spectre, and two politically powerful Matriarchs."

"An award?" Shepard asked in confusion.

Aria smiled at Illium's negotiator and spoke while laughing, "She's so humble. She wasn't expecting an award in the slightest."

"Nice to see something catches her off guard." Garrus joked.

"Garrus, the lady was being shot at, go easy on her." Officer Vakarian jokingly warned.

Shepard glared at them and began sarcastically, "Thanks guys. If you recall I work quite well when caught off guard."

"Only when there are guns or explosions involved. Apparently not medals." Wrex joked.

"From what I've heard about you, Wrex, you don't like the spotlight much either." Shepard retorted playfully. Wrex chuckled.

"If you don't mind my asking, what award?" Zaeed asked with genuine curiosity, not to say he wasn't amused at the banter.

"Asari have an award called, The Biotic Fist. It's approximately on level with The Turian Cluster, The Salarian Silver Dagger, and The Human Star of Terra." Lidanya explained.

Aria interjected with a smirk, "Although, The Biotic Fist is the only one that has the distinction of being a name for a sex move as well. A popular one."

The two Matriarchs laughed quietly to themselves when Shepard blushed just a little.

Shepard began, "Yes well," she cleared her throat, "I would be honored to accept such an award."

"Eloquent as ever. Even when flustered." The Illium negotiator said.

"Only when I need to be." Shepard retorted more confidently.

Everyone chuckled.

/\

"For valorous defense of Matriarchs of the Asari government," the presenting voice of Matriarch Benezia stopped.

And Matriarch Lidanya continued in a wry tone, "And for one hell of an impressive display of biotics."

Benezia matched Lidanya's tone "Yes, thank you for mentioning that, Lidanya." Her presenting voice continued, "We present to Chancellor Shepard the award, Biotic Fist."

After Shepard accepted the medal, pinned to the left side of the overcoat where there was room, and a display case was handed to her, Aria took the stage, "My turn. For protecting my top advisor, and my personal friend in the line of fire, I hereby award the Omega Crossed Swords to Senior Officer Vakarian." She put the award, which looked like two cutlasses clashing in an X shape, around his neck and handed him a display case. She whispered, "I'm not changing the design when the Confederacy dissolves, so it'll still be recognized as legitimate."

Aria walked off the stage and the crowd of C-sec officers cheered. Shepard turned to Vakarian and handed him a smaller version that could be attached to a dress uniform so it wasn't so clunky and stepped off the stage, her limp gone.

Officer Vakarian began giving his speech for retirement and Shepard walked over to Aria, Wrex, and Zaeed. "Now don't you two go feeling left out. I didn't think you'd want a medal."

"Ah, who needs costume jewelry." Zaeed stated, waving his hand dismissively.

Wrex had an air of unconcern about him anyways.

Shepard smirked, "Well, I still have something for you two, something much more practical, aside from payment of course."

Zaeed and Wrex glanced at each other and then burst into laughter. Wrex explained, "Shepard, whatever practical thing you're giving us is fine. We did this as a favor, we don't need to be paid."

Aria chuckled, "Hey, you both know she's new at this. Cut her a little slack. It's easy to forget it hasn't even been a year yet."

Shepard took it all in stride. She turned to Zaeed first, "I've got my hands on some improved inferno grenades. I've set up deliveries of these to replace your old ones."

Zaeed blinked a couple times, then said, "Ha! When you say practical, you really mean it."

She turned the Wrex, "For you I had Aria call her contacts at Serrice Council, a Savant Mark X amp." Wrex smiled in appreciation.

They stood around in a slightly awkward silence for a few seconds. Then Wrex cleared his throat, "Well, I've got my next contract, I'd better get going. It was good to see you Shepard, Aria. Good luck in your hunt, Zaeed." He headed off to his docking bay

Zaeed nodded, "Good luck in yours as well. I've got my own job to get to. See you both around." He walked off as well.

Shepard turned to Aria, "When are we heading back? Patriarch probably has the warlords all prepared for their coming role, even if they have no idea themselves. The systems are getting louder, I could tell that Tevos wasn't pleased with those colonies. All I need to do is give the Batarian Hegemony that little push."

Aria nodded, "We'll stay for some of the after party. After all, the Vakarians are your friends, wouldn't want to appear rude."

The after party stretched on for hours before it wound down enough for Shepard and Aria to leave.


	20. Chapter 19: The Perfect Catalyst

**Author's Note: I had a review asking me about the Reapers. To be honest, this story at this point takes place about thirteen years before where the game takes place. In the Prologue sections I say it's 2170, Mass Effect 1 takes place in 2183. So, in answer to the question that was asked, you'll just have to wait and see.**

Chapter 19 The Perfect Catalyst

Shepard spent the next week simultaneously inciting acts of civil disobedience mixed with the occasional riot on the two systems, and planting the suggestion of a quick annexation, through layers of intermediaries, in the minds of a few well-placed Batarians. She used the information networks she helped gain for Aria to get the exact names she needed.

Finally it all came to a head. First the systems initiated the largest scale protest, and then the Council gave up on their experiment and gave them independence. And then the Batarians flew in and tried to seize the territory.

Shepard had re-boarded her vessel The Vallum, and had Kyrikus's fleet ready.

A final push on the Batarian fleet and the Hegemony formally declared war on Aria. This was the carefully placed signal Shepard, masquerading as the Hegemony, gave to the traitorous warlords.

"Well, it seems our initial battle plans have fallen through, we need to come up with a contingency fast. Admiral Kyrikus, do you have any ideas? We've got about the same number of ships as they do, though we still have better ship upgrades. They don't have dreadnoughts this time, and I suspect the Hegemony won't want a long war. They're too focused on harassing The Alliance through their proxy war." Shepard asked over the comm.

"Well, the battle-space is wide open, but we don't want to damage the shipyards. We should draw them out." Kyrikus continued thoughtfully.

"In that case, I have an idea." Shepard began.

"Let's hear it."

"We've got fast FTL lanes right in between the two systems. We can stop in the middle of the two systems and use that as a sort of forward base. We launch a few short raids and bait them to counter attack into a trap."

"What if they don't follow the ships back? They could launch an attack of their own against one of our systems in retaliation." Kyrikus raised a point.

"Well, that's why I would have your brother, the Commodore, on standby. I was thinking of having him guarding our closest systems from attack. As soon as the Batarians launch any kind of assault either he will or we will send in waves of reinforcements to cut off their retreat."

"I like the plan, and you covered the only hole I could think of off the top of my head. We'll do that."

"Alright, we launch in five minutes."

/\

"In light of these heinous betrayals by several of our fellow warlords, it has become clear that this method of shared governance will no longer work. We need a new order, a more centralized order. One that will be able to act with impunity and keep chaos to a minimum. I move to dissolve the Confederacy and form an Empire. The Omega Pirate Empire, and I nominate Aria as sole ruler." Severius spoke eloquently, the speech he co-wrote with Chancellor Shepard.

Forleck stood and said, "I second his motion."

Aria spoke, "In light of the subject, I abstain from voting."

The motion passed with a big majority, it would have looked bad as unanimous.

Aria stood, "Well, I appreciate the trust you have placed in me. First and foremost we must end this war with the Hegemony. To do that we must bring these rebellious warlords to heel! Patriarch will be heading the fleets to defeat these traitorous fools and secure our territory. My Chancellor and Admiral will be taking the fight to the Batarian Hegemony. For the Omega Pirate Empire!"

"For the Empire! For Aria!" Came the resounding cheer.

/\

"The perfect catalyst." Patriarch said with a smile.

Aria chuckled, "Yeah. Shepard knows the political power of war. Both on the quote, "home front" unquote, and abroad. And she knows just how to manipulate opponents and allies into acting how she needs. I don't think I need to change the speech to "Empress if you're feeling dramatic", it wouldn't flow the same if I did."

"As per Commandant Shepard's instructions, we are ready to roll out. Her giving me the marines was a nice touch. I'll have those rebel idiots in no time." Patriarch reported, turning serious.

"Great. Launch when ready." Aria closed the comm channel.

"Everyone get ready! Thanks to our reorganization of the military, each rebel warlord only has fanatical militia, and maybe a few ships. We go! For the Omega Pirate Empire! For Aria!"

"For Pirate Queen Aria!" Came the resounding cheer.

/\

In between stars a great void was suddenly a little fuller. Kyrikus wasted no time in repositioning the fleets. Shepard was set to lead one of the first two raids and was waiting for Kyrikus to signal the all-ready.

"Kyrikus has signaled the all clear, Commandant. Captain Jarral is counting down to launch her raid."

"We launch when she does, remember? We go on her count." Shepard reminded her crew, evenly.

Four minutes later both raids launched. The attack went off without a hitch, they did a fair amount of damage to the fleet and made good their getaway.

"Report, Captain Jarral? Commandant Shepard?" Kyrikus asked. Both ships sent over information.

Jarral's raid fleet disabled or destroyed fourteen frigates and twelve cruisers with twelve more ships being severely damaged but still operational. Shepard's raid fleet disabled or destroyed twenty frigates and seventeen cruisers. Fifteen more ships were severely damaged but still operational. No allied casualties, just a few scrapes.

Kyrikus continued, "Alright. We wait ten minutes to see if they take the bait. If not, then we launch another raid. Countdown begins now."

Shepard opened a channel to Captain Jarral, "Excellent work. I'd like to plan our next raid now, ahead of time."

"What do you have in mind, Commandant?" Jarral asked.

"I understand that in the previous battle Patriarch used rapid FTL jumps to position his attack at an unexpected angle. I'd like to use a variation of that tactic."

"The tactic worked well for him. I'm willing to give it a shot."

"We jump in on an oblique angle and begin flying in the direction we need to make a fast escape. From this angle we fly through the heart of their position and wreak havoc. What do you say?"

"I love it. I'll prepare my forces, Jarral out."

Shepard smiled and said, "She's one for the unconventional isn't she?"

Shai'ras nodded, "Yes, Shepard. I used to kill time with her playing your human chess and other strategy games. She never liked using the conventional or accepted strategy or counter strategy."

The ten minutes counted down, but seemed like an eternity. Finally Kyrikus gave the go ahead for another raid.

This one went even better than the last one. Between the two of them they badly damaged over fifty frigates and thirty cruisers. And sure enough, Jarral's group provoked an all or nothing counter strike. It failed miserably. Kyrikus sent Captain Jarral to secure the territory; she was welcomed by the planet's population with cheers.

Shepard opened a channel to Kyrikus, "Do you think those two fleets had no standing orders and were making their own defense plans?"

"Probably, considering one of them has counter attacked and the other one is just sitting there, waiting."

"I think that one might be planning a trap of their own. Something at the cost of their own forces' lives."

"Perhaps we can spring our own trap to trap their trap." Kyrikus said.

"What?" Shepard asked in confusion, a feeling shared by both bridge crews.

"That… uh… sounded better in my head. I meant when they spring their trap because they think we've committed enough forces to do it, we spring our own on top of them."

"Okay, then." Shepard began as she thought carefully. She added, "I want some additional insurance. Contact Patriarch and put me through to him. I want to know how close he is to being done."

"Alright, we still have about eight minutes." Kyrikus began the contact.

"What do you need Shepard?"

"How close are you to bringing down this rebellion?"

"Should be done in five minutes." There was a report given to him and he mumbled a bit as he read. Finally he said, "Or now, apparently."

"Good, we need some additional insurance in our contingency plan. Coordinate with Commodore Kyrikus. I want you to launch in five minutes after he does. Alright?"

"You got it Shepard. What went wrong with the first plan?"

"Never happened, they declared war and sat tight. Our backup plan was to bait them into attacking by launching raid fleets; it got one of their commanders to attack. Now we need to get their other one, and we think he's laid a trap."

"Very well. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Admiral Kyrikus, begin the countdown now."

Kyrikus restarted the countdown.

Ten minutes later Shepard launched. As soon as the raid began the Batarian sent out a signal. Shepard's escape route was cut off. But on time Admiral Kyrikus jumped in and moved to back Shepard up. The Batarian commander sent out another signal and Admiral Kyrikus's forces were surrounded as more Batarian ships FTLed in.

Kyrikus had been anticipating that and had correctly positioned his fleet. The battle raged on for another five minutes and then Commodore Kyrikus jumped in and flanked the Batarian reinforcements.

As Shepard figured, the Batarian commander had planned even for that, and another wave of reinforcements flew in around the Commodore's forces. Then Patriarch jumped his forces in.

Shepard opened her comm channel and broadcast, "Batarian forces, do you surrender?"

The response was insolent, "I do not have the authority to surrender. My commander has taken control of a ground facility and fortified it. And if I did have that authority, I wouldn't."

"I see. So this is to the death, then." Shepard cut the channel and redirected firing orders for the ship that was sending the signal.

It was a brutal hour of fighting before the Batarian forces were obliterated to the last ship. Casualties on Aria's side were very low, but still noticeable.

"Patriarch, prep the marines. Transfer them to my command. I'll lead them on the surface." Shepard cut the channel, "Anto, Grizz! Suit up."

Shepard got up and went back to her cabin to change into her combat armor. Ten minutes later Shepard popped the shuttle open and led Anto and Grizz into the shuttle.

/\

Twenty minutes later they had an LZ established and were landing forces while repelling Batarian scouting/raiding groups.

"Commandant Shepard! We've got enough for a scout raid of our own." The marine field commander spoke over the sound of gunfire.

"I'd rather pull a commando infiltration before a raiding party. I want Grizz to stay behind and keep organizing the arrivals. You my Krogan friend will be accompanying myself and Anto as the commando squad!" Shepard smiled as she gave the Krogan's arm a light slap and moved off in the direction of the Batarian base.

The Krogan slammed his right fist into his left palm, "Yah!" And with that he fell in line next to Anto.

Shepard led them over the ridge and surveyed the area. "Okay, a mile in that direction is the base. I say we circle over to that mountain and survey a little closer, see if we can work out an entrance."

"It's built right into the base of the mountain. What do you hope to find?" Anto asked.

"If we're lucky, a path above the wall. It was hastily constructed, so there will be oversights." Shepard explained

"Why a path above the wall?" The Krogan asked.

"So we can get in quietly, and then pick our moment to blow something up."

"Ha! Well, what are we waiting for?"

They set out and once they made it to the mountain they carefully climbed up the side. They lucked out and found an easy way over the wall. They snuck through the camp and found the generators, and the front gate.

They waited twenty minutes, when Grizz was supposed to launch his major assault. That's when Shepard blew the front gate, Anto blew the generators, and The Krogan marine went berserk in the main barracks.

The Batarian ranks fell to pieces as field commanders gave conflicting orders, unsure whether to turn around and secure the base or stop the oncoming charge. In the chaos the Batarian ranks broke when the marines charged their line. And they never got the chance to reform. The Batarian commander died in an attempt to push past Shepard at the front gate shortly after the main Batarian force was shattered. Grizz marched the marines into the camp and secured the area.

After Grizz, Anto, and the Krogan marine checked in with Shepard she walked to a quieter spot. She tapped her Omni-tool and contacted Admiral Kyrikus. "Do we have any reports from Aria, admiral?"

"Yes Shepard. Upon my sending confirmation of their destroyed fleets and our marines landing on this planet, the Hegemony has given up. They cede these two systems to Aria in apology and want to make peace. She's on her way to meet the delegates to formally sign the treaty."

"What about these systems? Has my hard work paid off?" Shepard asked.

"Captain Jarral reports she has been widely accepted in that system, and they certainly want to join us. The population here seems less ecstatic, but also seem okay with it. I think these people just want to go back to wine making and ship building."

"Well we won't stand in the way of that." Shepard said with a smirk. She cut the communications and waited for Aria's arrival.

This peace proclamation was much smoother. Terms were already agreed upon and all that was needed was a signature. The Batarians left, and Aria had her Empire.

The Chancellorship position was put into temporary retirement, in case it was needed again. Shepard herself was allowed to keep the powers of that position, though.


	21. Chapter 20: Aria's Finale

Chapter 20 Aria's Finale

"And that just leaves Severius, Forleck, and Kyrikus." Aria began, debriefing Shepard on how she had taken care of the former warlords.

"Kyrikus should remain admiral, I think." Shepard said.

"Agreed. Severius is worth keeping around as a bit of a puppet. The illusion of his ideas that are actually ours."

"True, but he also gets good ideas himself on occasion." Shepard said.

"Right, Forleck… Forleck…"

"Same as Severius, but to a slightly lesser degree."

"Okay, we're done. Today, we don't have much business. Just sit back and maybe watch a dancer or two." Aria joked.

"Very funny." Shepard said sardonically.

"What? It's fun to tease you. Anyway, Joker is checking into a few upgrades I applied to your ship. Expect his report in a few hours."

"Alright." Shepard leaned back and waited.

"You know, Shepard?" Aria began after a few minutes.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to miss having you around. If you tell anyone I said that, I will hunt you down and kill you."

Shepard smiled, "Noted. I'll miss you too, Aria. But, I'm sure we'll see each other again. It's not as though I'm running off into uncharted territory."

Aria smirked, "True enough. Hell, I still got a month on our contract. Maybe I can drum something up."

Joker came up the steps carefully, "The upgrades all check out, but who did you hire to install them?"

"They were an independent group, why?"

"Because they must have been bribed to put this onboard." Joker handed a deactivated homing beacon to Aria. He then added, "And this listening device as well."

Ari took one look at the listening device and smiled, "That's the Shadow Broker." She spoke right into it, "Better luck next time." And she smashed it. She then examined the homing beacon, "This is someone else's work. It's too crude to be your species' rogue black op. And _way_ to crude to be Shadow Broker." She started trying to pop it open to look into the inside.

Shepard was eyeing it closely when something caught her eye, "Aria wait!"

She stopped, "What?"

"First, it could be booby trapped. Second, I don't think that's a long range beacon."

Aria nodded and scanned it with her Omni-tool. It came back fine, but now she was suspicious. "Joker, where exactly did you find it?"

"Well, it was easier to find than the listening device, but it was still hidden fairly well inside the bulkhead in the captain's bedroom."

"My bedroom? Let me see that." Shepard said. Aria tossed it over to Shepard. She held it up to her ear. Suddenly her eyes widened, "It's beeping. It's sending an active signal!" She jumped up and ran out of the club and quickly threw the devise over the edge. It fell for several long minutes when a rocket came around a corner and detonated right on top of it. No damage was done to the station since the explosion was in a wide open space.

Shepard made her way back inside and explained her theory, "It must have triggered a timed failsafe when you shut it off, Joker."

"Pity we can't trace who planted it without the device."

"We could always track down and question the workers who you hired." Joker suggested.

Aria glanced down at her Omni-tool, "The missile launched from Eclipse hangars."

"Wait, we?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, we. I'm going with you, and Joker will be piloting." Aria explained.

"Alright, where do we begin?"

"One of them is still on Omega." Aria said.

Joker spoke, "I doubt he would still be here if he knew what his friends had done."

"True, but he might know where they went." Shepard noted. "I do have a record of their leaving in my program, but not where they were going."

They went to the ship, but before they boarded they took another look around. "Where on Omega is he?"

"He should be in that apartment district controlled by the Blue Suns."

"Oh, joy." Shepard muttered.

"You don't think that it was…" Joker began

"I do. Tarak." Shepard spoke with cold fury in her sapphire blue eyes.

"Let's not jump to conclusions…" Aria began, but then remembered that it was placed inside Shepard's bedroom. She shook her head and said, "Never mind. You're probably right."

Shepard glanced at Aria, "But you want to be sure, right?" Aria nodded in response.

Joker docked in another of Aria's docking bays on a closer one. Joker stayed aboard as Aria and Shepard began searching for the mechanic that was still on Omega. It took some time, but they found him doing maintenance on a banking terminal.

Shepard eyed his work and caught on a bit to what he was doing, "That's good work, there; leaving a back access into the firewall for you to exploit. And I can see the terminal does even need some maintenance. It's a good thing I don't use that bank." Aria smirked at Shepard.

The Batarian gave a short chuckle, "Well, what an imagination you have, miss. I'm doing no such thing, but if I was I'd cut you in on it if you keep quiet. Alright?"

Shepard glanced at Aria who shrugged and shook her head. Shepard turned back to the Batarian, "Not necessary. But, I would like a little information."

The Batarian finished up his work and snapped the panel back into place. He dusted off his hands and turned around. As soon as he did, all four of his eyes widened. He panicked, "Aria! Was our work unsatisfactory? I'll be glad to fix any problems… for free of course!"

Shepard held her hands up in a calming gesture, "Relax. You're not in any trouble. Your former coworkers are, however."

"What happened?" He asked in confusion.

Aria answered, "Two of your friends took a bribe to plant something on my associate's ship. One was from the Shadow Broker to place a listening device onboard. We don't care about that one."

Shepard continued, "The other one is the problem. You see, it was a crude homing beacon tied to a surface to air missile launched from Eclipse hangars. None of the big three mercenary organizations would be so dumb as to launch a traceable missile from their own hangars; they are smart enough to frame their competition, however. We'd like to know if you are aware of any of your former coworkers having a connection to the Blue Suns, or Blood Pack. Or if any of them despise Eclipse enough to frame them by a representative of Eclipse's rivals."

"Uh… Well, Zhairn has a cousin in the Blue Suns, but they don't talk much. Hmm… Farullius is too electronically stupid to have planted any device more complex than a toggle switch. That was a little harsh, he's a great mechanic. Oh, Mike was pissed off about being denied admission into Eclipse. The Salarian Tulan had the same problem as Mike. Any of them except Farullius, really. Any of them could have been approached. I think they all went to Illium for more lucrative corporate work."

"And you're name?" Shepard asked. She added, "Aria never told me."

Without any insult he answered, "Vultok. I don't know anyone in any of the merc groups. In fact I hate them, the bullying punks. My wife and I just don't feel safe!"

Shepard placed her hands on his shoulders and smiled reassuringly, "Easy there. Like I said earlier, you're not in any trouble. Thanks for the info, now I'm going to give you a tip. You'll get more money with a small siphoning program on that gambling machine owned by Blue Suns. Just skim about half a percent and they won't notice. Especially if you route it through this banking terminal to another bounce."

"Thanks! Now my wife and I might actually be able to afford food after the damn protection racket passes through."

Shepard and Aria made their way back to the ship. Shepard glanced at Aria, "I hope Mordin sets up that clinic. This place seriously needs it."

"Well, I suspect it won't be for a few years before he finishes some of the other stuff he's wanted to do." Aria sighed.

"Good luck to him, when he does set up his clinic."

Shepard and Aria walked up into the ship. "Set course to Illium. I've got a contact that's most likely to have hired our wayward mechanics."

"Jax? You there?" Aria said into the comm.

"Yeah, what do you need Aria?" Jax replied in a few seconds.

"Not as much as last time. Just a little information when I land. Are you busy?" Aria continued.

"Not too busy today. I'll meet you at the mezzanine port. Just give me a few minutes." Jax said.

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

It took only a few minutes before Aria and Shepard disembarked to meet Jax. "What do you need, Aria?"

"I assume you hired a group of mechanics recently?"

"Yes, actually. Is something wrong?"

"Well, one of them took a bribe for the Shadow Broker to plant a listening device on my friend's ship." Aria began.

Jax shrugged, "That's unsurprising. The Shadow Broker is all over the place."

Shepard shrugged, "Another one, however, tried to blow me up and frame Eclipse for it."

Jax blinked in surprise, "Explains why you're here. Give me some names, I'll line them up for you to… have a chat with them." He finished his sentence with a devious smile.

Sure enough, Jax had them all lined up, with no idea why they were there. Shepard put her helmet on just outside the room they were in. She flicked on the internal lights of her armor and made a grand entrance. All the mechanics and technicians blanched in fear as the full force of the intimidating armor was felt.

One of the braver ones spoke up, "Wh- what is going on here?"

"Who planted a homing beacon on my ship?!" Shepard said, jumping straight to business.

"Homing beacon?" A Turian that could only be Farullius asked in confusion.

"We don't know what you're talking about." Zhairn said.

Shepard eyed them both briefly, and detecting no lie spoke, "Maybe you two don't know what I'm talking about, but judging by the averted gazes over here I'd say they _do_."

Zhairn blinked, thankful he wasn't simply being accused because he was Batarian and Farullius looked over at his friends in shock.

The Salarian stepped forward, "I installed that listening device for the Broker's agent."

"Interesting, but if you recall I was much angrier about a homing beacon? It was linked to a surface to air missile." Shepard said with a small nod.

Mike blanched and tried to edge away, hoping he could get away with it. But Farullius noticed, "You! Why'd you do it?"

"The… that human woman in Blue Suns armor made me a deal I couldn't refuse! I could be a mechanic for them, since Eclipse decided I wasn't good enough for them."

"Jentha… Tarak's lieutenant." Shepard mumbled. She spoke more normally, "Alright, the rest of you can get back to whatever Jax has you doing. Mike, you're coming with me."

"That Batarian just won't give up!" Aria said in anger.

Jax thought a moment, "Shepard mumbled about a… Tarak?"

"Head of the Blue Suns on Omega. And leader of the raid on Mindoir." Aria explained.

"Let me know if I can help." Jax offered.

"Thanks." Aria sighed and walked off after Shepard.

"Where were you going to meet her? Or was she going to contact you?" Shepard had the man against a wall, her hands clutching at his collar, his feet dangling a few inches off the ground. The man squeaked out, "She broke her end of the bargain! It's why I left Omega! I swear! I swear… please don't kill me."

"Kill you? Well… you're not lying…" She let out a long, frustrated sigh. She dropped him, "Get out of here."

He didn't need to be told twice. He was gone as soon as those words left Shepard's mouth.

"You alright Shepard?"

"I'm not looking forward to living a life looking over my shoulder."

"And you won't be. Tarak will back off when you leave my employment. He'll be too busy dealing with me. That black ops group hasn't given it another shot since that Turian. And the Shadow Broker doesn't hold personal grudges."

Shepard sighed, "I guess you're right." She paused and then added, "Well, this was much shorter than I thought it would be."

Aria smirked, "No kidding. I thought we'd have to traipse across half the Terminus!"

"Joker's going to be disappointed." Shepard nodded in agreement.

"While we're here, why don't we stop by the Eternity Bar, maybe Joker could join us. Might make up for not getting to fly around the Galaxy."

Sure enough they met up outside the bar. They stepped in together and Aethyta spotted them and smirked, "Come on over here. What can I get ya? Sorry-"

"No sex, you just cleaned the bar." Aria finished for her.

Aethyta let out a loud laugh, "Fine, have it your way."

Joker laughed, "Beer, please."

Shepard sat down, "Surprise me."

"You'll regret that." Aria took her own seat. Then she said, "Got any… what do the humans call it? Vodka?"

"Here you all go." Aethyta served up Joker and Aria's order. She looked over to Shepard, "As for your surprise… Here, it's a mystery drink I came up with."

Shepard took her drink and Joker laughed as she swooned just a bit. She blinked a bit as she looked around the room. When her eyes settled on Aria and Aethyta, both watching in knowing amusement, Shepard spoke, "Wha- what's in that stuff? You," She pointed at Joker, "look normal. But you two," She pointed vaguely in the direction of the two Asari, "look… I don't know…"

Aethyta smirked, "I'm impressed Shepard. Most people who drink that can't get out a single word, let alone coherent sentences."

Aria chuckled, "What is it? Do we look just a bit more… human? Maybe our blue lips have a bit more pink or red in them?"

"Hallucinogenic? Tasted good, though. Is this based off of some Asari aphrodisiac?"

Aethyta blinked in surprise, "Actually yes. It's heavily diluted, and then I added the alcohol. It'll wear off in another minute."

When it did Shepard got a more mundane drink… and the recipe for the first one.

"I'm glad you dropped by, saves me having to call." Aethyta turned to Aria, "When is she done with the contract?"

"A month."

"Perfect! I can give to her the first independent contract. I'll give you the details when I have them, but it's important. I want to hire the best."

With a nod from Aria, Shepard said, "…Alright. Consider me hired."

"Excellent. I'll contact Aria with the details when I get them."

They had a pleasant conversation for several more hours before they set off back to Omega.


End file.
